


Taking Over 2

by imthederpyfox



Series: Sanders sides [17]
Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Alters, Angst, Darkness, Exploration, F/M, Fluff, Ghosts, Haunting, Magic, Mind Control, Other, Ouija Board, Pain, Sequal, Spirits, Torment, Torture, Voilence, body swapping, but like in the background - Freeform, but not too much, ghost hunting sorta, ish, like implied torture, now you got it, powers, strange, teleporting, this shit gets stranger than the last one, well it is, yall didnt think that was possible?, you guys wanted it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-09-29 23:20:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 30,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17212751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imthederpyfox/pseuds/imthederpyfox
Summary: Strange things begin to happen once again, and the group have to try and figure out just what is going on.This time it's not just Thomas and the sides in danger, the entire world could change if they don't fix this problem...Love, loss, manipulation, pain and loneliness, this chapter in the Taking Over Universe is even more intense than the last.





	1. Antics Return

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, OMG, you guys requested this after the last one, and now that the RP is basically finished for this chapter, I figured I'd upload!
> 
> There was a few questions I got off friends on Tumblr after they'd read this, which I will be answering at the end!
> 
> Either way I hope this story entertains you guys as much as the last one!

Logan sat in the study, concentrating hard on the different papers and books and his laptop. May sat near him in companionable silence, reading through some of the papers. Logan sighed and rubs his eyes. "This just doesn't add up."  
"You're probably tired. You haven't slept for 2 months..." May retorted. While she exaggerated the reality of the situation, Logan had had trouble sleeping recently.  
Logan sighed. "I've had naps and I have made sure to not do anything detrimental to mine or Thomas's health."  
"Alright then."  
"It just doesn't make sense... Exza offered to write about her experience through the events a few months ago but she has spoken of stuff that I do not remember happening and others that she has missed out that happened."  
May looked up from her own texts. "Well I don't blame her.... After when... 'He' strangled me, I barley remembered what happened when saving Exza in Roman's Dream realm..."   
They had both been attempting to research into Tommy and where he had come from.  
Logan thought over May's words. "True, but why would she add things that have not happened...?" He looked back down to Exza's accounts, which he held. "It makes no sense to me."  
"Let me see it..."  
Logan handed over the small book with Exza's account of what happened in it. "It's quite late... I should check that Roman and Patton are going to bed soon." It was their first time checking the clock in hours.   
May nodded. "Alright." Logan exited the study and headed to the lounge, spotting the other two as expected. He folded his arms. "How did I know you would be awake still?"  
"Rude." Roman replied, not taking his eyes off the TV.  
Patton sat in his pyjamas next to the fanciful side. "Hi Logan!"  
"We are simply watching films specs, besides, you and May are still awake looking over those pages and pages of boring research yet again."  
Logan rolled his eyes at that, Roman never did appreciate research. "I am attempting to figure out what exactly happened to us."  
Patton looked up. "After what happened?"  
"The whole Tommy situation. We can't keep going on without knowing the entire situation."  
"Of course we can! Ignorance is bliss in these cases Lo." Roman stated, finally looking up at the logical side.  
"But we don't know if he'll come back again." Patton added.  
Logan sighed. "Patton is correct. While I thoroughly despise the idea of him returning we cannot rule it out as a possibility." Attempting to make Roman see sense was always a tricky situation for all involved. Nobody wanted Tommy to return. Not after all that had happened. Not after they had defeated him once, with much difficulty.   
"Plus, he's stronger than any of us combined..." Patton mumbled, shrugging slightly.  
Roman paused the TV, glaring at the other two. "We defeated him. He turned to dust! And even if he did somehow manage to come back, we kicked his ass before when he was even stronger! It's like Voldemort we just won't let him get stronger. Though I don't understand why we're discussing this because he isn't coming back!"  
May came in the room at that point, disturbed by the others conversation. "Yes he will Roman. He didn't get defeated or turn to dust... He just left... Waiting to strike back when the time is right... To come get one of us... Or all of us..."  
Roman huffed, annoyed. It was true Tommy had turned to dust, but none of them knew exactly what that meant. "We all saw him get destroyed. He did turn to dust, we all saw it. He's gone. Finished. Done. We should not be focused on the past anymore!" He stood up. "Now. If you'll all excuse me, Thomas has an audition tomorrow." And with that said, no room for arguments, he walked upstairs.  
May sighed. "All this is giving me a headache... I'm getting paracetamol then heading to bed myself..."  
"Goodnight May..." Logan nodded, sitting on the sofa next to Patton.  
"Night..."  
Logan waited a moment, before sighing and asking what he wished to. "Patton do you think I am... Wasting my time with this researching...? Roman seems to want to believe that everything is over... I do not know what to believe."  
"You do what you wanna do Logan!" Patton responded, always happy to help in the few instances when Logan would actually open up about how he was feeling. "If you feel you wanna continue researching with this, you can. I'm not stopping you!"  
Logan sighed and slid down in the seat more. "Perhaps I should continue but put less effort into it. After all, it is true that we do not know if he will return and... If he doesn't we have ages to figure out what is going on..." He admitted. It must have been nice to be able to live in Roman's bubble of ignorance, but surely there was a slight possibility that Tommy could return? Right...?  
"Just take a break for a while." Patton replied, stretching. "Well good night!"  
Logan yawned. "Goodnight Patton." The parental side walked up the stairs, while Logan curled up on the sofa.  
\------------  
"Based on experience I'd say if you have back issues today it'll be because of sleeping on the sofa." Exza's voice came from the bottom of the stairs, where she stood with her arms folded.   
Logan looked up at her. "In hindsight it was probably not the smartest idea..." He responded as May also came downstairs. Logan sat up. "Good morning all..."  
Exza smirked. "Afternoon."  
"Good afternoon Exza..." May replied, still looking tired.  
"Sup."  
"Uh I guess I'll get started on dinner..." Logan suggested, standing and stretching, his back clicking slightly. Exza was right... his back would hurt today.  
"Okay!" Patton smiled, coming out of the kitchen with a cup of coffee.   
Roman however stood next to the DVD's, seeming to be struggling to decide between all of his precious babies. "Mary Poppins orrrrr Aristacats?" He pondered.   
"I suggest we let someone else use the TV for once." Logan replied as he walked past.   
"Finally." Virgil smirked, always happy when someone would put Roman in place.   
Exza laughed, before turning to him. "You want cookies or pure icing sugar, V?" She smirked as well.   
"Both."  
"Shweet!" She headed into the kitchen, while Virgil sat down.  
Logan sighed. "And before you convince your boyfriend to eat the most sickening concoction in the mindscape, what would everyone like for dinner?"  
Exza returned, eating icing with a spoon. "So glad I have a different diet to you people~"   
"Cook whatever Logan..." May responded before the logical side had a stroke. "I feel like this headache won't go away either."  
Logan handed her some ibuprofen. "That should help. I shall make some salad and chicken." Seeing Exza's strange diet always made him want to eat healthier. Though Exza couldn't help that her body didn't let her eat savoury food.  
"Thanks..."  
Roman turned to them all. "I'm starving, let's eat already!"  
"Patience Roman..."  
Logan rolled his eyes. "I have to cook the chicken, Roman."  
Patton smiled. "Come on, Roman." Roman rolled his eyes in response. "Fiiiine." May sighed, Roman was too extra.  
Logan decided to bring the conversation to a better topic as they all made their way through to the kitchen. "What is everyone's plans for today then?"  
"Well, Thomas's audition is in a few hours so I shall be there on stage with him, helping him give his best performance as always!" Roman flourished his hands around.  
"Good luck with that." May replied.   
Roman shrugged. "It must be done. What kind of actor would I be if I did not help my host when he is in need?"  
Exza rolled her eyes, sharing a smirk with Virgil.   
Virgil then turned to the fanciful side. "Just don't go over board."  
Exza laughed. "I don't think that's possible for Roman."  
"Yeah."  
Roman made an offended Prince noise. "Rude." May simply sighed at the exchange, becoming irritated by the groups antics. While they had all become closer by what had happened, the bickering still happened. "We had a couple months of decent friendship, Exza." Roman shook his head slowly. "But if we're going back to name calling~"  
Exza jumped up. "Bring it, bitch!"  
"Not now guys..." May grumbled.   
But Exza wasn't listening, she stood up on the table, dramatically. "I challenge everyone in this house to a super awesome prank war!" She declared.  
"Exza, get off the table..." Logan sighed.   
Virgil smirked. "Bring it."  
Exza proceeded to lift up a spoon toward the ceiling. "We shall have the most epic prank war, and none of you-" She pointed at them all with the spoon. "-Will be able to defeat me." She smirked and jumped down from the table. "And that. dear Roman, is how you do a dramatic scene." She bowed, as only Patton gave a few claps for his strange daughter.   
Roman gasped. "I am the actor in this house!"  
"We'll see how good you are when we do the pranks then."   
May sighed. "Can we all just have one, quiet day, no noise, no arguments and no pranks?"  
Exza shrugged and sat down. "Ok, BUT TOMORROW! I shall be beginning the prank war." She smirked and continued eating her spoonful of icing.  
"Dinners ready, please sit down everyone so that we can eat..." Logan grumbled, turning round with food in hand.   
Virgil rolled his eyes, having been enjoying Exza's antics. "Fine..." He grumbled. Logan handed everyone their food and sat down in his seat. "Speaking of pranks Exza, wanna prank Snake face?"  
Exza smirked, mischievously. "do you even need to ask?"  
Virgil laughed "I'll take that as a yes."  
"We can discuss plans when we go back upstairs. We don't wanna let these scrubs get in on what we're doing."  
"Alright then."  
Logan sighed. "Can we not discuss pranks please..."  
"Simply because you can't do pranks." Roman replied.   
"Simply because you can't do them either..." May answered Roman back.   
"I can so!"  
May sighed, having finished her food. "I'm going upstairs."  
"See ya..." Exza smiled, sensing something was up, but May would tell her later if it was important.   
Logan nodded to May as she left. "I shall do the washing up."  
"The audition is soon, who wishes to practice with me?" Roman asked, standing.  
"Not it." Virgil was first to call out.   
Logan was a close second. "No way."  
Patton however smiled. "Sure!" He did enjoy reading lines, even if he wasn't the best.   
Exza smirked at the prince. "I'll do it."  
"Nope. Patton?" Roman turned back to the dad, hoping he wouldn't insist he practice with Exza now she had bought it up.   
"I'll help!" Patton smiled.   
Exza scoffed. "Ruuuuuude." She shrugged. "You wanna come on an exploration with me, V?"  
Virgil smirked. "Sure."  
Exza grabbed her camera. "Cool, Logan wanna come?"  
Virgil looked at him expectantly, it was even more fun when Logan came with them. Logan shrugged. "I do not mind either way as long as you are not forcing me to do a Ouija board or something."  
Virgil rolled his eyes. "Fine."  
"Let's do this!" Exza called excitedly as she ran to the door.  
Logan sighed, "She is way too hyper today. We need to stop letting her eat that icing."  
"Nah." Virgil smiled.   
"Just because you are dating." Logan smirked and walked to the door, following the hyperactive girl.   
Virgil rolled his eyes with a smile. "Oh shut up about that..."  
"Come on mother fuckers! It's time to explore!" Exza shouted back at them, causing them both to chuckle.  
"Okay we're coming."  
Logan turned to the other as they walked. "How is it going anyway Virgil?"  
"Everything is getting better."  
Logan nodded. "That is really good. I'm glad." They both knew it wasn't just the relationship Logan was asking about. Exza hadn't really spoken much of what happened, taking a somewhat similar approach to Roman, except for the fact that she seemed to believe Tommy might be round every corner waiting for them. Despite coming back to her old self more and more, she was still haunted by the events, and everyone knew it. For the first few weeks Patton had almost cried every time he'd seen Exza's scars on her arm, spelling out what she had become before. 'DEPRESSION', in thin, jagged, ugly lettering. It was safe to say everyone despised Tommy with everything they were.   
Virgil nodded. "Yeah."  
"How is Exza doing with the whole situation...? I know it was quite hard on her and she tends to hide how she feels in front of the rest of us." Logan continued, Virgil wouldn't tell them things Exza didn't want them to know, but he would be open about whether she was feeling ok or not.   
Virgil sighed and looked ahead at his girlfriend, watching her pull out her camera. "She's alright now."   
"Good."  
"You don't have to come, you know..."  
Exza had begun doing a YouTube intro to camera and the others caught up. "So, I'm here with Logan and Virgil!"   
Exza had had a fun idea of how to include the other sides in her videos. The fans still believed that Thomas' sides were in fact Thomas playing parts, which of course was true to begin with of course. Until Exza had used her gloves to make the sides real, individual people. For the videos she pretended that she was alone with Thomas playing one of the sides, and that any extra sides included were simply Thomas adding them in afterwards for effect. The truth was more fun, that the sides were people and could explore and make videos and such.  
Logan shrugged to Virgil. "I do not mind." Before turning and smiling at the camera. "Salutations."  
"Sup." Virgil added for the camera's benifit.   
Exza smiled. "We are gonna be exploring today, I found a great abandoned building near a swamp so that's gonna be cool." She turned to the other two. "What d'you guys think?"  
Virgil smirked. "Sounds cool."  
"I am interested to learn the history of the building." Logan added.   
"And of course what would a exploration video be for you guys-" Exza continued, pointing at the camera. "Without the Ouija board?"  
Virgil chuckled. "Logan isn't happy." Causing the intellectual side to sigh exasperatedly.   
"While I do not believe in spirits there is plenty of evidence that Ouija boards are not to be messed with." He reminded them, as he always did when they explored places and Exza insisted on bringing the spirit board. Exza herself was a believer and knew for a fact that Ouija boards - or any form of spirit board for that matter - were not to be messed with.   
Exza laughed. "I know but the viewers love it." She smirked.   
"Let's do this." Virgil smirked as well, loving teasing Logan, who simply rolled his eyes.   
"Yeah!" She put the camera down. "We gotta go to the real world for this one guys."  
"Oh great."  
"Chillax, we'll be fine. At least this place doesn't have security like other ones we've gone to."  
Logan looked between the two of them. "You both have anxiety why are you OK with doing this risky stuff?"  
Virgil shrugged. "We dunno... But we do it anyway."  
"It's fun to explore abandoned places." Exza added.  
"Yeah... Before we go, we gotta get some stuff ready for tonight."  
"Like what?" Logan asked. He had been with them exploring before but had never done an overnight video.   
Virgil rolled his eyes. "Lights, the camera set ups, food in case we get hungry during the time, and anything else."  
"Yeah we gotta be prepared, you've done some of these videos with us before. This time though it's an overnight instead of just exploring." Exza explained.  
Logan sighed, thinking of what he was gonna say next. "I'm going to regret agreeing to this aren't I?"  
"Maybe." Virgil laughed. Overnight videos could be pretty creepy.   
Exza shrugged. "It wouldn't be one of my videos if one or more people didn't regret coming."  
Virgil smirked. "So come if you want."  
"I will still come as I am curious as to how Exza records her videos."   
"Alright then, you might wanna check on May first... She didn't seem like herself today." Virgil said as they headed back into the house.   
"I did not notice..."  
"She seems down..." Exza explained.   
"Go check on her." Virgil added.  
Logan nodded. "Ok." and head upstairs. May was laying down when Logan knocked on the open door. "May?"  
May looked to him. "Yeah?"  
"Are you doing Ok?"  
"I'm fine."  
"Are you positive? I do not mean to pry but you seem to be acting strangely today."  
May paused. "I... I'm not fine..."  
"Why...?" He walked in.  
May sighed. "My headache won't go away."  
"Perhaps it is a migraine." He pondered. "I find the best way to help that is to not use technology or anything that takes concentrating, don't have the lights on because it could make it worse."  
May held up a hand to stop his rambling. "Done that... It just won't go away. It's getting really annoying..."  
"Try to rest. Sleep may help... Do you wish for me to stay here with you...?"   
May looked back to him. "It's up to you, Logan..."  
Logan paused. "I do not wish to intrude. I could go and film with Exza and Virgil, though, I would like to make sure you are OK."  
"Alright..."  
"I shall get you some water." Logan smiled.   
"Thank you."  
Logan returned a few moments later and handed her a glass of water. May drank some of it while Logan sat and thought about what could have caused this.   
"...You've been feeling like this since you read Exza's story of what happened..."  
May shook her head slightly. "It's probably all that studying... It has given me a few headaches before, but not this bad."  
"I plan to take a break from the research for now. I am sorry if I put pressure on you to research..."  
"No it's fine... I must've over thought things..."  
Logan nodded. "Very well..."  
"Stay safe... You never know what'll happen..." May mumbled.   
"Are you sure you would not like company...?" The logical side stood up.  
"If you want to stay you can... It's your choice..."  
Logan sighed. "I am leaving the choice to you. It is your room and if you do not want me here I shall not stay."  
May nodded "Well if you wanna look after me then go ahead."  
"I do not have the best bed side manor, but I shall try."  
May smiled at that. "Okay."  
"Let me go and tell the others that I will not be able to make it for the video." Logan said, heading back over to the door.   
"Go on then..." She responded, turning to face the wall while Logan headed downstairs where the other two were waiting.   
Virgil looked up at him. "Hey Logan." Next to Virgil Exza appeared to be preparing some things, while Deceit appeared to have joined the group on the sofa.   
"Ah hello logan~" Deceit smiled.   
"Snake face decided to join us." Virgil grumbled. "And he's being an ass."  
"Thank you~"  
Exza rolled her eyes and stood up, all ready to go. "Come on guys, we have a video to do."  
Virgil smiled too innocently, him and Deceit still bickered, though in more a joking, jovial way than before. "No problem... So Logan, you coming with or staying?"  
"I am going to stay to watch over May." The logical side informed them.   
"Cool, I'll just record another intro." Exza smiled.   
Virgil shrugged, standing as well. "Alright fine by me. Good luck."  
Logan laughed. "Thank you."  
Exza waited until Logan had gone back upstairs before recording a new intro. Virgil come up behind her. "Hey guys, today I am joined by Virgil and Deceit! We are gonna be exploring an old building next to a swamp so some pretty creepy stuff. Aaaand what would one of my videos be without-" She pulled up the Ouija board while Deceit seemed confused as to how he had managed to agree to come with them, despite definitely NOT agreeing to. "-You guys out there requesting the Ouija board?"  
Virgil smirked at Deceit's reaction before turning back to the camera. "They sure did."  
"So I'm gonna drag these guys down to the swamp and we are gonna do an overnight there, that's right until the sun. comes. up!"  
"Let's go!"


	2. Oiuja

Deceit sighed as they exited the car, looking around. "So what haunted place have we gotten ourselves into this time?" He asked, grabbing one of the bags.  
"As far as I can tell it's not extremely haunted, only slightly." Exza responded, vlogging as she grabbed another of the bags.  
Virgil took it off her and she rolled her eyes at him. "Doesn't seem dangerous."  
"The most we have to worry about is other people and tetanus. Apparently there's no security but there's loud bangs, thuds, scream and such." She told the camera, smirking at Deceit's reaction.  
"Jeez." Virgil grumbled, taking another bag from Exza, who sighed.  
Exza smirked again. "Scared?" They began walking towards the building they would be staying the night in.  
"Nah."  
"Good. Can't have you guys quitting before it's even gone 12."  
"It'll be fine."  
"It'll be fun!"  
"I would DEFINITELY go that far..." Deceit grumbled.  
Virgil rolled his eyes. "Definitely."  
Exza smirked "I think here's a good place to set up camp, we can explore after and then use the Ouija board." She placed the camera down, looking around at the room they were in. The shack/building was old, fairly worn down as well. They were near a swamp, crickets chirping around them. They were sure there must be some spiders around as well.  
"Alright." Virgil replied, placing down the bags.  
\------------  
Logan was reading on his laptop, enjoying not researching and just hanging out with May - who at this point was taking a nap, her head on Logan's shoulder. Logan didn't mind, as he flicked through different websites. May wasn't generally this relaxed, she wasn't exactly a wound up person per-se, but she was also quite reserved around people. He looked down at her, noticing that she had fallen asleep.  
"Hmm..."  
Patton opened the door not long afterwards, he liked to check up on everyone. "Hey kiddo's how are you?"  
"May appears to be asleep." Logan responded, placing his laptop to one side.  
Patton was attempting not to squeal. "That's good, I'm hoping she'll be okay soon!"  
"I believe she is simply worn out."  
"That must be the case."  
Logan smiled. "Would you mind making me a cup of tea?"  
"Of course!" Patton grinned, he had to make one for Roman anyway before he went to the audition.  
"Thank you."  
Patton nodded and left the room to go make some tea and coffee.  
Logan looked back at his screen, mumbling to himself. "Strange history for the place they're going tonight..."  
\------------  
Virgil stood back up from what he was doing. "Okay everything is set."  
"Awesome! Let's explore!" Exza responded.  
Deceit rolled his eyes. "You are definitely not too excited for this."  
"Shut up..." Virgil warned, he didn't appreciate it when people made fun of Exza.  
"I have to stay in character for the viewers~" Deceit reminded him, the viewers hadn't known what had happened the last time, so Deceit had to keep up appearances while being recorded, at least until Thomas could figure out how to do his character arc right for the viewers.  
"Whatever..."  
Exza turned to them. "Guys shush..." She then turned back to looking into the distance across the swamp. Virgil followed her gaze as well, listening out for something. "Did both of you seriously not hear that?" Exza asked them both.  
"I definitely did." Deceit responded.  
Exza sighed. "So you didn't."  
"I did hear something..." Virgil reassured her, though he wasn't sure exactly what they had both heard.  
Exza stood up and grabbed the camera. "I hope my camera picked that up..." She turned back to them. "Let's start exploring." She began walking, them following after her.  
"What did you hear?" Deceit asked, curious.  
"A low woman's voice..."  
Virgil paused, he hadn't known what it had been that he'd heard, but he trusted Exza's sensitive hearing over his own. Exza began taking to the camera and the other two stood back, letting her vlogg.  
"If we get ourselves killed I'm not gonna be happy." Deceit told Virgil, folding his arms.  
Virgil shrugged. "You wanted to come."  
Deceit smirked. "I did~"  
They both looked at Exza as she suddenly stopped. "What is it?" Virgil asked, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder.  
Exza looked at him. "It's really cold here..."  
Deceit rolled his eyes. "It's very cold."  
"It is!" Exza growled at him.  
"Yeah... it is actually... Really... Cold..." Virgil mumbled, shivering slightly. He knew the signs of spirits or what have you, and temperature was one of the main ones.  
"Can only virgins feel this stuff? Is that why I'm not feeling it?" Deceit asked, sarcastically.  
Exza gave him a slight glare. "Actually proud you made an 'It' reference."  
Virgil turned to Deceit and glared at him. "Just shut the fuck up."  
Exza looked down, and tried to defuse the conversation. "Let's carry on..."  
"Yeah."  
Exza began explaining the history while walking and showing around the house and the outside area that overlooked the swamp. She went on for a while and eventually Virgil yawned, "It's getting a bit late now." He spoke up, looking out over the swamp.  
Exza turned to him. "It's half two in the morning," she was checking her phones clock. "We can do the Ouija board at 3, the devils hour...  
Virgil nodded and started following her back inside. "Alrigh-" but as his foot touched down on an old plank on the floor, he almost fell through, but jumped back. "Mother Fucker!"  
Exza laughed, though he could tell she was wondering if he was alright. "Watch where you're going bro." She smirked. "Let's head back this place gives me the creeps. We'll play the board and then go to sleep for a bit."  
Virgil nodded, making sure to be more careful where he was walking. "Alright then."  
Exza placed down the camera and began setting up the Ouija board. "You guys doing OK?"  
Virgil nodded. "Other than almost falling through a crack, yeah." He felt safer now he was back inside.  
Exza pulled the camera back up "Everyone like this video if you wanna see Virgil fall down more cracks at other abandoned locations!"  
"I really like you but seriously? I could've gotten injured badly..." He grumbled, sitting down.  
"I'm joking." Exza smiled. "Come on, let's play."  
"Alright then."  
"I'm assuming like usual Deceit doesn't wanna play?" Exza smirked up at the lying side, putting the camera back on a box to record the game.  
"I'll stand around and watch." Deceit replied, folding his arms and staying away from the board.  
Virgil smirked. "Of course I'll do it too."  
"I reaaaaaaally wanna play." Deceit growled, keeping his distance.  
Exza rolled her eyes as she put the planchette onto the board. "Fine." Virgil scooched up next to her. Exza circled the Ouija board with the planchette a few times before greeting the board and then shivering. "If there's any spirits here with us tonight, can you move the planchette?" Virgil watched her, waiting for something to happen. "Does anyone wanna speak to us tonight?" She continued, calling out.  
Virgil sighed. "Nothing."  
Exza looked around. "Hmm... Wanna ask anything?"  
"Okay... What is your name?" Virgil asked, watching as the planchette moved slightly.  
Exza looked at him. "Is that you?"  
"No." He shook his head, he looked to Deceit, but it couldn't have been him. He was just watching with a slightly wary look on his face.  
Exza sighed softly, steadied herself, and continued. "Is there anything you want to tell us?" She asked, when the planchette didn't stop on any of the letters. The planchette moved on to 'NO'.  
Virgil paused, but wanted to know more. "Will you tell us your name?" The Planchette moved away again and back to 'NO'.  
"Rude." Exza joked.  
"Wow."  
She looked to Virgil. "You promise you're not moving it?"  
"Yes, I'm not moving it."  
They had used the board in multiple videos, not eliciting much response. There were times when it had moved, but not this much. The only times Exza had experienced this had been when she had done Ouija boards when she was younger, not for videos.  
Exza nodded. "Ok..." They watched it move to the 'T' and stop there. After waiting to see if it did anything else, she decided to continue. "Did somebody do something to you?" It moved to 'YES'.  
Virgil blanched, watching the board, but making sure to keep an eye pn his girlfriend every so often. This didn't feel quite right. But Exza continued. "Do you know who...?"  
The planchette quickly moved to the letter 'U' before the planchette flew off the board. "Shit!" She grabbed the planchette, placing it quickly back on the board and pushing Virgil's hand back on it. "We have to say goodbye." She demanded.  
"And quick." Virgil agreed, "Goodbye!" They both said at the same time, moving the planchette to goodbye.  
"God I have chills..." Exza grumbled, packing the board away. "I'll set up for sleep, where did you put the sleeping bags?"  
"In the tent." Virgil responded, sighing now that the game was over.  
Exza sighed. "Only we would put a tent inside." She smirked, grabbing and setting up the sleeping bags inside.  
"That's why I don't play the Ouija board." Deceit growled, glaring at the box Exza had put the board into.  
Virgil rolled his eyes. "Because your scared, Deceit..."  
"No, because I don't mess with this stuff... It's not normal."  
Exza came back to them. "You guys can get some sleep, I'll be back soon just gonna record a little bit for the video."  
Virgil stood and made his way over to the hut. "Come back safe..." He gave her a protective hug and when Deceit had walked away, a soft kiss on the head.  
"I will." She smirked and took the camera out to the little wooden pier overlooking the swamp. It would make a nice backdrop.  
Deceit rolled his eyes at them, over-dramatically. "I'm tired, I'm going to sleep."  
"I'll stay up a while longer..." Virgil responded, he would wait for Exza to come sleep.  
Deceit shrugged as Exza walked off. "Suit yourself. Goodnight, Anxiety."  
"Night."  
\------------  
About ten minutes later and Exza had yet to return, Deceit was softly snoring in the tent, and Virgil was sat on a box nearby, but his phone was getting low on charge and he was worried about her. It had been a while, and even though she did tend to loos track of what she was saying while recording, this was taking a while and they were in a strange place.  
"I'm gonna check on her." He spoke up, even though he knew Deceit was asleep. When he walked out to the dock where she had gone, the camera was on the floor, pointing toward Exza, who was stood on the very edge of the wood over the marsh, staring down at the water, her back to him.  
Virgil took a couple of slow steps onto the dock, being careful of the rotting wood. "Exza? You okay?" Exza didn't respond and swayed slightly. Virgil quickly went to her as she fell forward. "Shit." He didn't think and quickly dived in after her.


	3. Cold

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those asking what happened to their dog/wolf 'Navi' after the first story, they still own him, he spends most of his time in the mindscape/dream space hanging out. Terrence, Vallery and Camden all have soft spots for the massive fluffball as well, and like to 'kidnap' him for a pick-me-up every so often.
> 
> For this story Navi is with one of the friends :)

Exza coughed and spluttered when he pulled her up. "Wh-what happened?!" She asked, shivering in the cold, murky water. They could feel the moss and algae and reeds whipping against their legs.   
Virgil sighed in relief. "No idea but let's get you in... Its cold out..." Exza nodded and climbed back up to the dock with him, both shaking and coughing.   
Deceit picked up the camera and looked at them. "What happened?"  
"She fell in the water..." Virgil replied, as Exza looked down, shivering. Virgil wrapped an arm around her, but it wouldn't help much when they were both soaked with gross swamp water. "You're lucky we bought extra stuff."  
"I'll grab a blanket for a towel..." Deceit spoke, placing the camera down and heading inside to grab a blanket for the shivering pair.   
Exza looked to the camera. "Was that recording the entire time...?"  
"I dunno..." Virgil shook his head.  
"I'll check it later..." She checked her phone. "It's 3:35... I fell in at 3:33..."  
Virgil hugged her again, somewhat to see that she was, indeed ok, somewhat being the overprotective boyfriend. "You're okay now."  
Exza sighed. 3am was the witching hour, AKA when the devil liked to have his fun. AKA when ghosts came out, AKA it was fucking creepy that this had happened at exactly 3:33. "I don't wanna quit but... I don't wanna be here right now. I don't feel good about this."  
Deceit handed her the towel. "You shouldn't have played the board."  
Virgil glared at Deceit slightly. "We can leave now if you want..." He told her kindly.   
"But the video..." She looked at them both. "I said we were doing an overnight..."   
Deceit shook his head. "If you're not gonna be able to relax all night we should go. I'll drive back."  
Exza paused but nodded and pulled the camera up. She would get ill if they stayed as well, and the fans would NOT be happy with them all if she did. "Ok guys, don't worry I'm OK. I don't know what happened there, I'll have to see what my footage shows because that was so strange. Deceit's gonna drive us back home now, I wanna stay for the video but it's not safe here, we might come back if we get enough likes but I'm not sure... So we're gonna pack everything down and head back home. That was scary... See you guys later." She turned off the camera for now and nodded to the other two. They felt bad about letting the viewers down, but the two sides knew that it was for their own health. It was hard to see Exza so dejected, but they knew it was right to go home for today.   
Virgil began taking the stuff down and putting it away. Exza jumped in the car. "Sorry guys..."  
Virgil sighed and hugged her. "It's okay."  
Deceit started the engine, and began the drive back, it took about half an hour and nobody spoke for the entire ride.  
\------------  
May woke up in bed. "Hello, May." Logan's voice came from her pillow. Oh... he had been her pillow.   
"Hey Logan." She sat up away from him, she hadn't meant to fall asleep on him...  
"I think I heard the front door open..."  
Roman's voice came from downstairs. "What the heckity heck happened to you two?!"  
Logan nodded.   
\------------  
"Long story..." Virgil grumbled.   
Exza was still shivering. "I need a warm bath..." She sneezed. Great... why did she have to be cursed with such a terrible immune system?  
"Go up to our room then."  
Exza nodded. "Thanks. So glad to have you. Luckiest person everrrrr." She tiredly joked, but Virgil knew she actually meant the words she had said in a sarcastic celebration.  
Virgil smirked and rubbed her shoulder with his hand in a caring gesture. "I'll get some other stuff..." He kissed her head. "I'll be up in a bit."  
"Fine." Exza smiled softly. "But you better bring me some chocolate." She smirked and headed upstairs.  
Virgil laughed. "That's what I'm doing."  
Roman rolled his eyes. "Seriously what happened? You're both soaked and Deceit came in mumbling about Ouija boards before going straight to his room."  
"For some odd reason Exza fell in a swamp near the house.... We're unsure why but I had to go in to get her."  
"Quite brave and romantic, I'm impressed you're learning." The prince smirked. "Did you get it on camera?"  
Virgil nodded. "Yes."  
Roman realised how down the anxious side seemed. "Well I'm sure you'll know what happened when Exza edits the footage." He shrugged. "Seems normal to me. Now you're dripping on the carpet I picked out so go get yourself cleaned up."  
Virgil rolled his eyes. "I will Sir-sing-a lot..."  
Roman smiled. "Good." And with that he went back to the TV.  
Virgil grabbed some stuff from the kitchen and headed upstairs with chocolate drinks and some sweets. Exza had just gotten in the bath when Virgil came in. He smiled in awe. She never ceased to amaze him with how beautiful she was without makeup, her hair done or anything else. Virgil came into the bedroom and closed the door.  
\------------  
Exza came back out of the bathroom in one of Virgil's hoodies and baggy pyjama bottoms not long after, embarrassed about getting changed in front of him despite him having seen her before.   
Virgil was waiting for her, sat on his bed on his phone.   
Exza smiled softly. "I'm really tired..." She curled up next to him. "I don't get this tired normally... Must have been a long night..."  
Virgil nodded, laying back with her. He had also had a shower in Patton's room. "Yeah it has. Get some rest."  
Exza nodded and hugged him, snuggling her head down on his shoulder. "Night..." Virgil hugged her back.  
"Night."  
"Sleep well..." She mumbled, already half asleep. That proved how tired she was, she could usually go days without being able to sleep and still take hours to fall asleep usually.   
Virgil smiled. "Same with you."


	4. Prank

early the next morning, Exza was up, recording for an ending to the vlogg. Virgil was asleep, as were most of the others.   
May was awake but staying in bed.  
Exza stood in the corridor, so as not to disturb anyone. "So it's the next day, I was way too tired to record when we got home, I obviously had to have a shower and stuff, most of them are still asleep right now, it's quite early... I honestly don't know what happened last night, I don't remember a lot before I fell into the water? I won't really know what happened until I check the footage. So I'm gonna say bye now, I'm gonna start editing and get this up within the next day or so hopefully. I may update past this if I see anything weird going on." She sighed. "But for now, bye guys." She gave her signature salute to the camera and turned it off.   
May looked over to see Logan. "He stayed?" She mumbled to herself.   
Logan was still asleep, lightly snoozing with his glasses still on, May smiled and took them off; putting them on the side table. She lifted the blanket and placed it over the two of them instead of just herself. Logan shuffled round slightly in his sleep to get more comfy. May smiled.   
But, of course, living with this many people was always an issue, as Romans shouting from the corridor. Somebody get up and make me pancakes! Ow! Exza it's not nice to punch people!"  
"It's like 6 in the morning." Exza's growled whisper followed.  
"Roman, shut up." Virgil's voice added.  
Exza sighed. "Pretty sure you've woken up the entire house. Go downstairs, Roman."  
Roman looked at her. "Why are you just standing in the corridor?"  
Exza shook her camera at him. "I'm recording."  
Virgil popped out of his room. "Make pancakes yourself, asshole."  
"Go, princey before me and V kick your ass."  
Roman sighed. "Where's Logan? I need pancakes." He whined.   
"OK, I warned you." Exza said casually, before chases him downstairs, Roman screaming and waking everyone up.  
May rolled her eyes, "Oh for fucks sake..."  
Logan slowly looked up, blinking away the sleep as he picked his glasses up off the side. "What's going on, who's in danger?"  
"Roman by the sound of it. I don't wanna get up..."  
Logan sighed. "I suppose I should make breakfast. Stay in bed if you wish, I shall bring some breakfast up for you."  
"Thanks... And its 6 in the morning."  
"That's fine, as soon as Roman's up he needs breakfast or he'll be a nuisance all day." Logan got up and stretched.   
May rolled her eyes. "Or in me losing my voice again from shouting."  
Logan laughed. "Or Exza killing him. Oh crap was it Exza chasing him?"  
May nodded. "Most likely."  
"I will stop her before she kills him." He quickly headed out of the room, spotting the others. "Good morning Patton, Virgil. I am assuming Roman and Exza are downstairs?"  
Patton smiled. "Yep!"  
"Ow stop!" Roman's shouts came upstairs.  
"You gonna stop them?" Virgil asked Logan, ever amused when Exza decided she was done with Princey's shit.   
Logan tutted. "She's your girlfriend. But yes, I suppose it's down to me."  
"Alright." Virgil smirked.   
Logan sighed and made his way downstairs. "I'll be making breakfast as well, so you better both come down."  
"Okay!" Patton called back, skipping after him.  
The logical side arrived downstairs to see Exza cornering Roman holding a can of permanent green hairspray. Virgil snickered, that's his girl.   
Roman frantically looked to the others. "Save me!"  
"Nah." Virgil folded his arms, clearly amused.   
"Patton? Save me!"  
Patton giggled. "Logan will!"  
"To quote Virgil, 'nah'."  
Patton sighed, "Oh fine I'll save him this time."  
"Wait!" Exza called, turning back to Roman. "Say you're sorry or the hair gets it. I may even give your nice white tunic a green design." Patton paused, looking to the others.   
"You're insane!" Roman retorted, clearly scared at the threat to his tunic and hair.   
Exza simply tilted her head, un-amused "Wrong answer."  
Virgil smirked. "She always was. But we all still accept her as one of us."  
Roman glared at him, damn boyfriend defending the fox girl. "Somebody get her off of me!"  
Exza smirked threateningly. "But I'm just having a bit of funnnnn~"  
Virgil sighed, hating to break up the fun. "C'mon before May gets here and shouts again."  
Exza rolled her eyes* "Fiiiine." She let go of Roman, but turned round and sprayed quite a bit in Roman's hair. Virgil laughed, even Patton giggled a little and Logan smiled.   
Roman screamed. "MY BEAUTIFUL HAIR!" He ran to the mirror. "Huh? It didn't change...?" He turned back to the others.   
Exza jumped up on the table. "Welcome to the prank war bro!"  
"Pueden estar callados por 5 minutos, han pasado las 6 de la mañana!" May's angry shouting came from the top of the stairs. They didn't know much other languages, but they knew enough from May to know roughly that she said, 'Can you guys just be quiet for 5 minutes, it's gone past 6 in the morning!'.  
Exza smirked, causing Roman to glare at her, "I'll get you back for this." He whispered loudly, pointing a finger at her, much to her amusement.   
Virgil held his hands up to the other two as a sign for them to defuse this argument and everyone made their way past into the kitchen, Exza smirking at the prince as she walked past him. "Alright everyone, let's have some food." The anxious side spoke before Roman could say anything.   
Logan nodded. "Yes, what would everyone like?"  
"Dunno."  
Roman walked in. "Pancakes! And you can stay away from me." He pointed at Exza.  
"Ooh! Pancakes!" Patton giggled.   
Exza stuck her tongue out at Roman. "I'm going to get to editing." She informed them, heading to the door.   
"Alright kiddo! Let us know if you want 'Exztra' pancakes."  
Exza smirked. "I will do, dad." and with that she went upstairs. Logan began cooking while Patton yawned.   
Roman plonked himself at the table. "I'm going to get her back for that." He folded his arms. "It wasn't even a good prank!" He whined.   
Logan rolled his eyes. "I believe she is just warming up, I've seen her pranks before and they can get quite brutal."  
Virgil smirked. "It was funny."  
"I could have had green hair!" Roman argued.   
"That's what makes it funnier." Logan retorted.   
Patton laughed. "Yeah!"  
Roman growled, looked down at the pancakes Logan placed in front of him. "You jerks!" He began eating his pancakes.  
"So how is May doing Logan?" Patton asked, trying to change the subject from the pouting prince.   
Logan nodded. "Better."  
"That's good."  
"Yes, she get some sleep and was feeling a lot better."  
"Oh good!"  
Logan headed to the door. "I am going to take her some pancakes."  
"Alright."  
Logan made his way upstairs and knocked on May's door before walking in.  
May looked up at him. "Hey." She smiled.   
"I have brought you pancakes." Logan replied, presenting the plate of pancakes.   
"Oh... thank you, Logan."   
"It is no problem." He replied. May sat up, accepting the plate from Logan as he handed it to her. May happily ate The pancakes. "Exza has done the first prank."  
"I can tell from the noise."  
Logan smiled.  
\------------  
Roman turned to look at Virgil, feeling slightly better now that he'd downed most of the pancakes. He was still moping though. "How are you and your girlfriend after last night anyway?"  
"Exza is okay now." Virgil replied, looking back down at his pancakes. "Exza is okay now." He whispered to himself again just to reassure himself of the fact. Exza had seemed really down the night before. He hadn't thought anyone had heard him, but Roman smiled kindly.   
"I can tell." He continued eating his pancakes. "Do you know what happened yet? Deceit was moaning about the Ouija board last night."  
Virgil nodded, realising he hadn't actually explained it. "Exza wanted to use the Ouija board and Deceit didn't..."  
"As always." Roman shrugged. Roman was a believer in many things, but chose to ignore a lot of them if the concept was scary to him. "Did it work?"  
Virgil shrugged. "It did, but it didn't tell us their name. Which is a shame..."  
"But it still worked, which proves there's something there." Roman contradicted.   
Virgil nodded. "Yeah." A scream suddenly erupted from upstairs, followed by a smashing sound. They all stood, staring to the stairs.   
Virgil was the first to start running. "The fuck?"  
Roman turned to the other two. "Let's go!" He ran after the anxious side.  
Virgil instantly went to his room to see of Exza was alright. "Exza?" He paused, no response. "Exza? You okay?" The door slowly opened and Exza was sat at the editing desk, the video playing through of when she fell into the water, every cupboard and drawer was open and all the pictures had been smashed or scratched. Virgil quickly went to her. "What happened in here?"  
Exza turned to him, tears in her eyes. "I... I don't know..."  
Virgil hugged her and started putting everything back silently, worry present on his features and mannerisms. "Go downstairs... I'll catch up with you in a bit." He told her, wanting her away from any danger.   
Exza shook her head, returning to her usual self. "I'm not leaving you alone in here..."  
"And I don't want you getting hurt... So please..." Ever the overprotective boyfriend. Exza sighed and walked over to him.   
"I've been through worse than a spirit V..." She noticed however that no matter how much she could defend herself and how much she didn't particularly NEED the others help, Virgil would still worry, and wanted her safe. She sighed and looked down. "Don't get yourself hurt." She hated feeling weak, but let her boyfriend be overprotective, especially with what had just happened. She left the room.  
Virgil looked down, before beginning to put some stuff back. Once he'd done the basics, he looked around, and left as well. He didn't want Exza to see what he had noticed; the pictures were all scratched over Exza's eyes and heart, the video just kept playing on the part where Exza fell into the swamp.  
Roman was outside the room when Virgil left. "What happened?" He demanded, worried there was a threat in the mindscape.   
"We don't know..."  
Roman turned to the father figure. "Patton, go make Exza some hot chocolate." Exza was stood near them, shaking and looking down at the floor.  
Patton smiled and wrapped an arm around his strange daughter. "Okay!" Roman waited for Patton and Exza to leave before turning back to Virgil. "Maybe the spirits you contacted yesterday don't want the video uploaded...? I mean I'm only guessing so I'm probably wrong."  
Virgil shrugged slightly. "Maybe..." He sighed. "But seeing the way she looked at me... She was scared."  
"Anyone would be..." He remembered how the girl usually was with this stuff, never usually scared or worried. Something was definitely strange about this situation. "Maybe... She's always said she's seen this sorta stuff since was a kid. Maybe it just reminded her of that stuff...? Either way, next time she tries to edit the video just make sure one of us sides is there with her." He gave Virgil a kind smile.   
Virgil nodded. "I will..."  
May came out of her room and looked at them all. "I heard screaming... What happened?" She asked as they all walked back downstairs.   
"We don't know yet..."  
"I don't know... I blanked out..." Exza added.   
Virgil rubbed her arm softly. "I went to check on her and everything was a mess..."  
"It's freaky." Roman added.  
Deceit walked in, not fully sure what they were talking about, but he'd heard enough to make it out. "It's the spirits."  
May rolled her eyes. "Okay if spirits followed you three back here, you're getting them back out."  
Exza sighed. "Spirits follow me all the time, May, small things happen around the house but... Nothing like this. I don't think it's a spirit. At least, not a normal one."  
Virgil looked to her, she knew a lot about this stuff. "A poltergeist?"  
"I don't think so..." She looked down. "I should probably finish editing the video."  
Virgil instantly moved to go upstairs with her and she didn't argue. She sat back at the desk. "Did you just... I swear I just saw a face on the screen..." She asked softly, confused, but shook her head and got back to work. "So this is what actually happened..."  
Virgil came over to watch as well, Exza is talking to the camera, explaining some things, before she seems to hear things in the background. There was a small whisper, neither of them could make it out, but video Exza's face dropped with dread, and then she paused, her expression going blank.  
"Wow..." Virgil whispered, confused as to what could have caused this. The camera got dropped and static covered the screen a little, Exza walked forward slowly, towards the water. The camera capturing all of it. She stood there for ages before she suddenly moved forward, Virgil running into the shot and rushed into the water after her.  
"So I just... Dropped my expensive camera... And decided to stand in the dark next to some water for like ten minutes..." Exza mumbled.   
Virgil looked to her, worried. "I guess so."  
"This doesn't make sense... Wait... Look..." She put the footage on a loop and pointed at the screen, a strange black mist was behind her, a few orbs floating around, and the mist followed her to the water, and when she fell in, it stayed on the dock.  
Virgil paused. "That smoke... Looks familiar."  
Exza simply shook her head and began editing everything, nothing much happened other than what had already happened, once the editing was done she exported it and began uploading it, all in silence. "Should I record what's happened to the room...? It might not be the best idea but the fans will probably be worried." She asked, Virgil looked up from his phone.   
"Sure."  
"Ok." She grabbed her camera and pressed record. "Hey guys, so me and Virgil are here editing the video and some weird stuff happened..." She pointed the camera at the room, which was still mostly a mess bar the few things Virgil had cleared up earlier. "So when I was up here before I got to the part in the video where I would finally be able to see what exactly happened to me last night... And I started hearing whispering and the video feed just went really Fuzzy." She explained, Virgil watched her with worry at her words. "Um... I felt really strange and suddenly there was scratches coming from around the room, and I heard some glass shattering. And stuff moving and everything... And Virgil came upstairs and..." She walked over to the pictures on the wall. "All the pictures... Are scratched..." She spoke softly, staring at the ruined memories and realising where they were all scratched. On her. Virgil thought it best to jump in.  
"Luckily, she's okay... We'll get the pictures replaced. For now, at least we all know Exza is okay." He reassured, both the audience and Exza.   
Exza nodded, putting back in place her vlogging persona, she was still herself, but not as open about her emotions as she would usually be. "It's just weird. All the pictures are scratched that have me in it and yesterday the Ouija board said that it was me or us that harmed the 'spirit' we were talking to. And all the drawers and cupboards were open. We just finished editing and uploading so this won't be out until the day after cuz I just wanted to get the video out and sorted. I'll update if anything else happens. It was just super freaky and I don't really know what's caused it other than the Ouija board."  
"Yeah."  
Exza sighed. "So thanks for sticking with us guys, I'll try to do more vloggy stuff today and see what happens." She turned the camera off after her signature salute. Virgil didn't say anything, just watched her sadly.   
"It's almost lunch time, that took quite a while." She said after a moment, deciding she didn't want to talk about it more.   
Virgil smiled. "Yeah, come on... We'll tell Logan about this."  
Exza nodded. "Alright..." And followed him out of the room.


	5. Not what it Seems

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reminder that this roleplay is done with the same person as the last, though she has changed her username 
> 
> Lauren-does-animation
> 
> check her out on tumblr if you want.
> 
> Also there has been a few people asking me if I do roleplays and collabs - yes, my tumblr is imthederpyfox, my sanders sides one is virgil-the-virgin and I do roleplays, collabs requests and commissions.

Roman turned to them as they came back downstairs. "Did any other paranormal stuff happen?"  
"Of course it did." Deceit replied drily, rolling his eyes.   
May sighed. "Looks like it."  
"It's fine." Exza held her hands up, telling everyone to stop worrying. "Just a couple little bits and pieces that don't make sense..."  
May nodded. "We'll figure out what's going on soon."  
"Gods I hope so." Roman agreed.  
\------------  
That night Virgil and Exza were in bed, everyone else was also asleep, they had done some vlogging that day, not much else and watched a couple films before bed. Exza had also decided to upload the video tonight.  
May was reading, it was fairly silent in the house, other than her being able to hear the faintest sound of Roman snoring in the background and Virgil and Exza's music softly playing, it always helped them get to sleep. May was getting tired herself. "It is quite late, probably time to get some sleep." She sighed to herself, putting the book down. Just as she was about to fall asleep not long after, she thought she saw something darting out the door, but it must have just been a trick of the light? Sure... She shrugged, turning the light back off. The same thing had happened in each room, and in Virgil's room where him and Exza were laying in bed, the door slowly creaking open.  
Virgil looked up, half asleep. "Huh?"  
His sleepy voice had stirred Exza, and she also looked up "Whuh?"  
"...Probably the wind..."  
Exza flopped her head back down on his shoulder. "Go to sleeeeeeep." She groaned.  
Virgil smiled. "I will." He yawned and watched her for a moment as she snuggled up more. Virgil held her close, a strange whispering laugh sounding through the room, though it was so quiet it was almost silent. Virgil decided to ignore it, however, a few minutes later there was a small shuffling sound in the room.   
Virgil was already back asleep, but Exza hadn't missed the shuffling sound, eyes darting to look around the room. There was silence... and then a small thud. She sat up quickly, looking around, before getting dragged by her ankle from the bed. "VIRGIL!"  
Virgil woke up to the scream. "What?" Exza got thrown to the corner of the room. Virgil was now fully awake "Exza!"  
A deep shadow forced him to stay on the bed, a familiar face appearing in front of Exza, before grinning 'Well done my dear, you brought the perfect spirit back for me~' suddenly, the smoke and fog disappeared.   
Exza quickly got up and rushed round to check everyone else's rooms, ignoring Virgil's worried questions for now. She had to make sure everyone was safe.   
May was on the floor in the corner of her own room and Exza came in, helping her up. "You're OK, he's gone..."   
May looked at her, seemingly confused. "What happened? ...Who's gone...?" She whispered the final part to herself, not to Exza. The fox girl looked extremely worried.   
"I... I'm not sure." Exza turned around to see all of the others stood in the doorway, confused. "But I have a fairly good idea WHO..."  
"I swear my head hit the wall pretty hard..." May mumbled, though she wasn't sure if it was the being thrown into the wall or just the headache she had been suffering from.   
"Same..." Exza quickly checked May's head, no blood. That was good at least, but she would have to keep an eye on her for any sign of concussion. "Let's all go to the kitchen. Probably best we stay together..." She could see everyone staring, worriedly, at her but she motioned toward the kitchen and everyone agreed.   
"Is everyone okay?" Patton asked, turning to 'dad mode'.  
"I'm fine." Roman replied, a flourish of his hands following.  
Logan also nodded. "Yes."  
May shrugged. "Sorta..."  
Exza paused at the top of the stairs, they all turned to look at her, especially Virgil since he was holding her hand. "I'm gonna record some stuff. I'll see you guys downstairs..."  
Roman raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's smart?"  
Virgil gave Exza a look. "I mean... You were just thrown to a wall..."  
Exza stared at them all.   
"Are you feeling Ok, Exza?" Logan took a step forward, also worried.   
"Y-yeah I'm fine..."  
"I'll go up with her... In case anything else happens." Virgil said, turning to look back at his girlfriend, who in all honesty, was worrying him.  
Exza shook her head, seeming to snap back into what was happening. "No it's fine, we'll stay down here... Its OK."  
Virgil nodded, still giving her that look, and then took her hand once more and lead her downstairs. "Okay."  
Roman walked into the lounge. "Well, it is 3 o'clock in the morning... Should we set up the lounge for a slumber night?" He suggested.  
Exza smirked. "Actually not a bad idea."  
Patton cheers, frightening Logan, who was NOT expecting that. "I'LL GET THE COOKIES!"  
"Patton it is 3 o'clock in. The. Morning. Please refrain from shouting." Logan grumbled.   
Patton looked sheepish. "Oh, right."  
Deceit looked around at everyone. "Must I remain with you all? I'd rather prefer to just sleep."  
Remmy suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. "Did someone say sleep?" He asked with a smirk.  
"Oh hey, Remmy..." May sighed.   
Remmy paused. "Wow, haven't seen everyone this gloomy in a while, how's it going?" He took a sip of his tea.  
"Well, just before you came, Exza and May were thrown into a wall... We don't know why..." Patton replied.   
Remmy nodded slowly. "I'm assuming Exza was in Virgil's room, did you see anything gurl?" He asked, turning to Virgil as they sat down in the kitchen.  
"I only saw black smoke." He admitted.   
Logan turned to him. "Black smoke?"  
"I don't wanna talk about this..." Exza interrupted.   
Roman raised an eyebrow. "We have to to figure out what's going on."  
"Maybe I don't wanna figure out what's going on!"  
"Okay we all need to calm down..." Virgil spoke up. There was a moment of silence.  
Roman looked at everyone before looking back at Exza. "Why wouldn't you wanna figure out what's happening...?"  
May looked to the ceiling as she heard footsteps upstairs. Exza looked up as well. "I just don't... There's certain things you'd be smart not to mess with." her tone turned different, darker nearer the end of her sentence.  
"Something isn't right here..." Virgil grumbled.   
"What are these certain things...?" Deceit asked Exza.  
Exza laughed before looking up at them all, her eyes dark. "Me." Black smoke surrounded the room, flooding it and pushing everyone out of their chairs onto the floor.   
Patton looked up at her, scared. "Exza?"  
"WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING?!" May shouted. Some of the smoke cleared and Exza stands there, her eyes pitch black instead of her usual blue, she looked down, bored, at her sharper nails.  
"Not quite~" She smirked.


	6. Possession

"Who are you and what have you done with Exza?!" Patton panicked.   
Exza tutted. "Aww, you don't recognise me? Such a pity. I've simply pushed her back here a bit-" She pointed to her head. "It took a while to rebuild my strength. I bid my time, seeing you idiots go to more and more abandoned and haunted places, messing with the Ouija board, etc." She smirked, it didn't look right on Exza, not her usual smirk. This one was sinister. "Waiting for the perrrrfect being to follow Exza home, and when it did? I was able to return." She purred.   
May sat up and glared at her. "Tommy."  
Exza smirked. "Smart cookie."  
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" Virgil demanded, looking about ready to charge at her.   
"Wouldn't you like to know~ Your little girlfriend shouldn't have ruined my plans and destroyed me." Her voice turned almost into a growl.  
May glared at her. "It's you're own fault for being an asshole anywa-"  
Exza rolled her eyes. "Why do you pesky people never. Shut. UP?!"  
Virgil whispered to Logan, keeping an eye on Exza - or, rather, Tommy. "What do we do?"  
"I-I don't know... We should probably check on Thomas..." Logan whispered back, shaking his head.   
Patton nodded, hearing them. "I'll go check."  
"Be careful, don't let him see you."  
Exza growled. "What are you lot whispering about?! Your friend has her body being used and you're all just having a nice little chat in the corner?"  
Patton smiled. "Oh, it's nothing... I gotta gO FAST!" He quickly sunk out to check on Thomas.  
Exza was not amused. "Really?" She asked the others. "You all love acting dumb don't you." She smirked as she realised something. "Haha, it is extreeeeemely interesting in this girls head. So. Much. Going. On. How does she ever get anything done~" Virgil glared at her. "I really did mess this girl up last time~" She gave an evil grin. "But I can do much worse now."  
Virgil clenched his fists. "I don't know what to do Logan..."  
"I should have worked harder on research... I should have made sure this couldn't happen..." Logan mumbled.   
"We killed you once, and as far as I'm concerned you can turn into dust again just like the end of Harry Potter! Get out of our friend!" Roman yelled.  
May turned to the others. "What we should do, is get him out of our friend's body, and get rid of him for good."  
Exza rolled her eyes. "Good luck with that~ none of you have noticed have you?"  
Patton reappeared. "I'm back."  
"Just in time for the farewell~ You have all failed to realise something crucial. I own the girls gloves now. I can control matter itself, I can manipulate her extensive imagination to create things you all couldn't dream about. Not even you, Roman. Enjoy your isolation, for now, and I really am sorry Virgil, but you're not getting your girlfriend back this time." She smirked and as Roman was about to attack her, she disappeared into black smoke.  
There was a silence that seemed to last forever.   
"This isn't good..." May mumbled.   
Logan turned to them. "I've helped Exza fix those gloves before... She made them in order to change matter into other things, it's how her and May can enter the Mindscape, it's how she can do all the crazy stuff she does outside of Thomas's mind, like summoning fire with the click of her fingers and creating massive creations..."  
"But he doesn't know how to use them." Deceit offered. It was true...  
May shook her head. "He could... He controls Exza after all."  
"No, he's pushed Exza back. Like he said. It's sorta like when he took over Thomas last time. It's... Its like a possession. She's also there and she's tried to teach me how to use the gloves before. It's extremely difficult because they're made to follow what she says... He could possibly use them but that doesn't mean they'll work properly for him." Logan informed.   
Virgil looked up at him, a little bit of hope coming back. "Maybe."  
Remmy looked to them all, wiping his tea from himself that he had dropped when they'd been thrown across the room. "So, what do we do?"  
"We find him before he has a chance to learn and stop him before he becomes too strong." Logan stated, seeming the most determined out of them all. The others looked defeated. He realised it was his turn to motivate them all into saving Exza and fixing this.   
Patton nodded, but his smile didn't reach his ears. "Right."  
"And where would he be?" May sighed. It was a big world.   
Logan deflated. "No idea..." They all got up.   
Deceit dusted himself off. "We need a plan as well. We can't just do the same as last time, Exza almost died and we all got hurt pretty bad. We should talk to Thomas, and maybe Joan and Talyn, see what they have to say. Either way we'll need to tell them."  
May sighed. "For once, I agree with you Deceit."  
"As I keep telling you people, I'm not a bad guy. Not after what happened last time."  
"Let's go now!" Patton suggested, and everyone sunk up to talk to Thomas.   
\------------  
Thomas turned to look at them all, giving a smile. "Hey guys!"  
"THOMASTHISISSERIOUS!" Patton yelled before he could stop himself.   
"Uh... What?"  
May stepped forward. "Okay... All of us are in danger... 'He' is back and controlling Exza."  
Thomas quickly stood up. "How? You all got rid of him... How do I not feel any different?"  
"We don't know."  
Logan nodded. "We think it's because he took over Exza before manifesting fully, so you probably didn't feel any effect... We need to discuss the events and see what we can do."  
"Yeah..." May agreed, but felt her head go fuzzy, like TV static. "Guys..."  
Logan turned to her. "Are you ok? You look dizzy... Have a seat."  
May nodded and slowly sat down. "Okay..."   
Virgil suddenly felt weird as well. "What's... Happening?" Roman quickly caught him before he fell to the floor.   
"What's wrong with you two?"  
"Dunno what's happening but... It could be something to do with Tommy." Patton suggested.  
Logan seemed to be trying to work it through. "May... You began getting headaches when you read what Exza wrote about the last incident. And Virgil... Feels weird now that Exza is not here... It could be related."  
Deceit shook his head softly. "That doesn't explain why I'm... Feeling really sick..." He sat down on the stairs, closing his eyes tightly.   
Me... Too..." Patton replied, sitting down as well.  
Logan looked around at them all. "I feel fine, Roman?"  
Roman shrugged. "I feel fine also. Thomas, how are you feeling?"  
"Um... Kinda... Weird but not at the same time, mostly just confused..." Thomas admitted.   
May sighed. "I... Don't know what's happening but... We need to find Tommy... Quick..."  
"How?!" Roman asked, panicking.   
Logan held a hand up to the prince to calm down. "I am going to get everyone some medication, just relax. We can't charge into this without a plan!" He scolded. Patton stared down at the floor, hands on his temples. None of this felt right. "It seems to be effecting everyone differently. May has a headache, Deceit and Patton both feel sick, Virgil appears weak and for want of a better term, 'fainty'.   
None of them knew what to do.  
Roman thought it over. "If it's effecting everyone differently then it's separate issues right?"  
"We are different aspects of the same person." Logan replied. "It is effecting everyone differently because of that. I do not know why..." They had to think of something, quick. Logan quickly thought it through. "Everyone go to sleep. Remmy. Put everyone to sleep."  
"Uh, whyyyyy?!" Remmy asked, confused at Logan's urgency.  
"Just do it."  
Sleep shrugged. "Sorry guys." He clicked his fingers and the people feeling the symptoms all fell asleep, feeling better.  
Roman looked round sheepishly at everyone. "So what now?"  
"I'm unsure... Thomas." Logan turned to the host.  
"Yeah?" Thomas asked, still fully confused.   
"Uh... I believe I may have figured out what is happening..." He pushed his glasses up his nose nervously.  
Roman stared at him, dumbfounded. "You did?!"  
"I don't know how but I feel as if this is to do with the subconscious. If they are getting effected by what is happening to Exza it may be due to how close they are with her. It may be difficult to explain..."  
"Maybe." Roman answered. Logan rolled his eyes, not sure which part Roman was saying 'maybe' to.  
"I shall try to explain my theories as best I can and we can see which make sense or if it in indeed a mix of multiple..."  
"Right! Let's vanquish this evil being!"  
Logan sighed. "Let's get Joan and Talyn to come by, they may be able to help us figure this out." He nodded to Thomas to phone them.   
"Alright fine!" Roman rolled his eyes and put his sword back in its sheaf.


	7. Allies

Not long after they had arrived and Logan had made tea for everyone. They all sat in the lounge, sipping nervously on the tea. Joan and Talyn both seemed confused.   
Logan turned to them once he'd taken a large sip of his tea. "Joan, Talyn, thank you for coming on such short notice." He began.   
Roman sighed after downing his tea, earning strange looks from all of the others. "This is gonna be serious talk."  
"What's the problem now?" Talyn asked, their gaze turning to Thomas as the host.   
Thomas nodded,it should probably be his responsibility to tell them. "You guys remember what I told you both about the last time I was away for a couple weeks?"  
"Yes?" Joan asked.  
Talyn nodded. "What about that?"  
"Were freaking out!" Roman shouted.   
"Roman! Chill!" Logan scolded.   
Talyn raised their hand to get the others attention. "So uh... What happened to those four? And where is Exza?" They all looked round to the sleeping bunch.   
Logan sighed. "I'll start with what's been happening... As we all know it's been almost a year between those events and these ones. Me and May have been attempting to figure out the history of Tommy and what side he was etc. etc."  
"Okay?"  
"We decided the other day to slow down on research due to the fact that we were wearing ourselves out." Logan continued, waiting for them to nod. "May read Exza's testimony of what happened and seen started getting headaches etc. Exza, Virgil and Deceit decided to do a haunted exploration video with a Ouija board and such, we've all been included in those videos, we know how they usually go."  
Joan nodded, sipping their tea. "Yeah? And did an angry ghost follow them back?"  
"Without a doubt." Roman grumbled.   
Talyn smirked. "Of course..."  
"Indeed, some weird stuff happened revolving around Exza, especially when she attempted to watch the footage back due to some strange stuff happening during the video." Logan continued.   
"Can I see it?"  
"There may be info in the video that we haven't seen. People might also be saying stuff in the comments!" Roman agreed.   
Thomas quickly brought the video up on the TV so everyone could watch. The video played how they would expect, Exza talking about what they were going to be doing, then cutting to them in the car discussing the place and continued the explanation as they exited the car and walked to the location, a spooky old building next to the old swamp.  
"Skip to where strange stuff happens..." Talyn mumbled, watching the screen, ready to see if anything weird happened.  
Roman shook his head. "I haven't seen the video yet I don't know what happens and when..."  
"I believe they said it began happening when they did the Ouija board." Logan responded.  
"Skip to then."  
Thomas nodded and skipped in the video, everything happened how Exza and Virgil and Deceit remembered it, there was also the update from the next morning and the weird pictures being destroyed. Joan mentioned how the Ouija board was probably Tommy trying to talk to them and blame them for what had happened.   
Talyn took the remote and paused it. They pointed to a shadow figure that looked like Tommy. "There. It's him isn't it?" They were pointing to the shadow, stood in the corner of Virgil's room, not moving, just... looming. Creepy and sinister. Sounded right...  
"How did Exza not notice..." Logan mumbled.  
"I don't know..."  
Logan sighed, holding up the laptop. "That's what happened; the comments are saying different things..." He informed, "'stay safe guys, the planchette flew off the board that ain't good', 'there's some weird mist behind Exza when she goes weird, hope you're safe Exza', 'I know these videos are faked because there's two of 'Thomas's personalities' in it but it's still entertaining. Even though it's bull'." He read out a few of them.   
Joan shrugged. "That is something..."  
"So last night we all went to bed, and thought everything was fine until I think we all noticed some weird shadows in our rooms... I thought it was simply a trick of the light so ignored it."  
Talyn nodded. "Anything happen after?"  
All the drinks had been forgotten at this point.   
Roman nodded. "That's when things went weird! Exza and May got attacked, we all decided to bunker down in the kitchen... Exza seemed Ok at first but as we sat downstairs she got weirder and weirder."  
"Tommy took over and Exza explained how... And then we came here." Logan concluded.   
"Wow... Stuff really does happen at 3am." Joan tried for a laugh, their way of trying to make the best of a shitty situation.  
Logan nodded. "At first Roman wanted to blame Exza and her challenges and exploring for what happened in the house. But now I think we all know what was really happening..."  
Talyn smiled. "Well, got any ideas?"  
"Logan said he had some theories on what might be happening to these guys..." Roman answered, looking to Logan, who said he'd explain when they got here.   
"And what are they?" Talyn asked.   
Logan sighed, getting ready to explain a few theories he'd had. "The first would be the connection between Exza and the people being affected. It is no lie that Roman and Exza have struggled to get along in the past. I get along with her but she does spend most of her time with the others. Sleep is something that alludes her most of the time so perhaps that is why Sleep is not being effected. Deceit and Exza have become quite good friends, playing pranks and such, May and Exza are good friends, Patton is Exza's 'dad' and of course Virgil and Exza are dating."  
Talyn nodded. "And the other theories?"  
"The idea that the dark sides are alternate sides to each of us main four. Deceit being Patton's, etc. If both Patton and deceit are both being affected, my second out of a few other theories I have is that, with Tommy leaving Thomas's mind without a side as a host, the sides are being affected."  
"Why aren't we being affected?" Roman asked, raising a brow.   
"It may be that Tommy is a mix between us as a side... In my research I have learnt that some main aspects he likes most about himself is his intelligence, his ability to be creative, and his powers of persuasion, something Remmy is able to do to help people sleep..."  
"The thing is..." Talyn spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "May isn't a side either... How can this effect her?"  
"I believe Tommy may have been able to have influence over Exza and May. I think he began going against May when she read Exza's accounts of what happened. He may have read it as well at the same time and gotten annoyed and angry at the fact that we defeated him last time, which may have been causing May's headaches..."  
"Maybe..." Joan agreed. It made sense.   
Logan nodded, continuing. "I also have a couple other theories as well..."  
Talyn smiled. "Alright, I'm listening."  
"They are smaller ones, mainly things to do with how Tommy affects everyone, etc... There's also the issue that they feel better when they are asleep. Leading me to believe that... We may all need to stay out of Thomas's mind... And let Thomas's sleep. In that way we will have to complete this mission quickly... But it means those guys can wake up and help us with this issue..."  
Thomas looked around at them all. "So... I wouldn't know anything that's happening?"  
"Unfortunately, no..." Talyn replied, offering a sad smile.   
Logan nodded. "We also have limited time of being allowed to stay outside of your mindscape... We only have a couple of weeks or a little more before the mind begins to deteriorate, especially if we are elevating the other dark sides in there from not being with you."  
"So we need to hurry." Talyn agreed.   
Roman sighed, crossing her arms. "We need to know what to do first! We can let Thomas sleep so the others can wake up AFTER we've figured out what to do."   
Joan sighed, the prince was right. "Okay."  
Logan nodded, slowly. "We should make a list of all the things we need to bear in mind, before we begin brainstorming what we need to do."  
"I'll get working with that." Joan offered.   
"Remember the main thing to worry about is that Tommy is in Exza's body." Logan demanded. "We need to be careful of hurting Exza."  
Roman flopped down onto the sofa. "I am exhausted... Perhaps we should all rest before we do this...?"  
Joan laughed. "You can, I ain't tired."  
"Whoever needs sleep, go ahead and get it. It's going to be a long few weeks." Logan suggested.


	8. The Plan

Thomas sighed. "I'm kinda nervous guys..."  
May slowly looked up at the room, waking up.  
Logan caught her eye. "Ah, May, hello, how are you feeling...?"  
"Better..."  
"Good... At least one of my theories worked."  
Roman clipped him on the shoulder. "Good job, specs."  
"We may have a plan." Thomas informed her.   
"That's good." May smiled.   
"Talyn and Joan are making coffee and tea if you want to say hi." Thomas smiled. "It's about 9 in the morning so Roman should be getting up soon."  
"Alright." May shrugged. Thomas smiled, eating cereal. May rolled her eyes and headed into the kitchen. "Hey Joan, hey Talyn."  
Joan nodded. "Hey."  
"Yo." Talyn added. Logan wondered in and made himself a coffee and they all chatted for a small while.   
May placed her mug down. "So, what's the plan?"  
Roman wondered into the room, looking tired still. "Joan, Talyn, what do we need to watch out for on this quest?"  
Joan looked to their paper pad. "We need to watch out of what Tommy will use against us... By now, he could've learned how to use those gloves, and he maybe a lot stronger now too."  
Deceit smirked. "Trust me, he may have a small grasp on how to use the gloves but he won't be able to master them for a while, we have some time..."   
"Deceit is right," Talyn nodded. "He may know how to use them, but not master them... We could still have a chance to get rid of him, for good."  
"The thing is, if we hurt him, we would hurt Exza too." May retorted.   
Logan sighed. "That is what we need to be careful of. Last time Thomas wound up with some minor bruises but Tommy has been controlling Exza for a lot longer than he was Thomas, it may be more difficult to defeat him again..."  
"I cannot believe I was so stubborn a Prince that I didn't want to think that he would return..." Roman mumbled, looking down to the floor in dismay, feeling guilty.  
"For now, we need to wait." Talyn smiled kindly.  
"For what?" Logan asked.  
Talyn laughed. "For the other two to wake up."  
"Ah, yes."  
Not long afterwards, Virgil blinked awake. He looked over to Thomas, who was sitting on the sofa finishing off his cereal. The host smiled and Virgil remembered why he was sleeping on the stairs. "Hey Virgil, how are you feeling?"  
"Better, I guess..." Virgil lied. He was worried, but nothing good would come out of him getting too anxious. He had to be strong. For Exza.   
The others came out of the kitchen.  
"That is good." Logan spoke up. "We have surmised a plan."  
"Good."  
"Thomas, however, will not be present for the plan." Roman added.   
"Oh... Ok."  
"I gots to be asleep." Thomas shrugged.  
"Not to break your guys plans or anything, but how is he supposed to stay asleep for a couple weeks? That'd put him in a frigging coma." Deceit chimed in, flopping down on the sofa.  
"That is true..." May agreed. No human - not even Thomas - could sleep for a few weeks.   
"I believe I can help with that." Remmy stepped forward. "I don't use the power much but I do have the ability to in order to protect our host... Only issue is we'd need a way to get nutrients into Thomas' body."  
"He does have a good point..." Virgil mumbled.  
Thomas looked confused, looking around at everyone. "What does that mean...? Like, equipment and stuff?"  
"In this case it means a hospital... A coma ward..." Remmy replied, somewhat shy for him.   
"The thing is..." Virgil sighed, becoming annoyed that this plan might be ruined before it had even been started. "How are you going to get into one."  
"The logical thing to do would be for us to phone the hospital once he has been put asleep by Remmy. The paramedics can take it from there while Joan and Talyn explain what happened..." Logan suggested.  
"Alright."  
"You will need to lie and say you found him asleep and could not wake up." Logan informed Joan and Talyn, who both nodded.   
"Fine." Virgil agreed to the plan, it was the best option at the moment. Besides, Thomas would probably be safest at the hospital.   
Logan then turned to address everyone else. "Us sides can't be here when the paramedics arrive, seen as nobody knows we actually exist. We can wait down the road for Joan and Talyn once they have gotten Thomas to the hospital."  
Virgil thought it through, perhaps he could stay upstairs? "Ok, ok, I'll stay here..." Virgil mumbles, pointing up to the ceiling.   
"What are we all talking about?" Patton's voice came from the sofa, finally awake.  
"Virgil, none of us can stay. I know you find it safe here... But we have to save Exza." Logan spoke up, trying to be gentle. "None of the sides can remain in the house..."  
"Ok..." Virgil mumbled, looking down at his sleeve.   
"You should all go." Remmy stood now that Patton was awake. "I'll use my power... It takes a lot out of me though so just be weary of that I guess."  
"We'll see you soon then." May responded.  
"Good luck." Roman added. They would be waiting for him in the car.  
Remmy nodded and gave a smirk. "Joan, Talyn, you guys should call the hospital in about ten minutes, I'll head out as soon as I've finished to join the others, we'll meet up with you both near the hospital later."  
"Alright." Joan smiled, grabbing their car keys to make sure they had them.  
Logan lead everyone outside and to Thomas' spare car. "I shall message Terrence and tell him to vouch and say he borrowed the Navigator with Thomas' permission just in case authorities attempt to get involved."  
"See you later." Talyn smiled.  
"Indeed. We shall meet you near the hospital later." Logan nodded and waited for Remmy to finish what he was doing and come out. When he got into the car - half awake - climbing into the backseat with a sigh, Logan started the car and drove a couple roads down from the nearest hospital. They sat there for a while, chatting, listening to the soft radio though not really paying attention to what was on. Roman texted Joan and Talyn to let them know where they were, and once he'd gotten a text response to let him know they'd gotten it, he told the others. It was just a matter of waiting after that. Remmy was still half awake but tried to join in with his usual sass. About an hour of hanging out later Joan opened the door, sticking their head in. The Navigator was a BIG car, and they had extended it to fit more people, just in case.   
"Ok, he's in the hospital." Joan informed them, jumping into a seat and giving Talyn a hand into the car.   
Logan began driving.   
"Cool..." Remmy mumbled, resting against the window, half asleep.  
Joan smiled next to him. "Sleep, if you want."  
"I can't... Using my powers leaves me weak and, most of the time, unable to sleep..."  
"I see..."   
None of the group knew that about Remmy, but it would be good to know for future reference.   
Joan and Talyn got into the other car again now that they had talked, and they took the two cars to a nearby motel to bunk up and decide what to do, seen as their Thomas plan worked. "So, it did work..." Talyn spoke up as they sat down in the run down, dirty motel room. "But they didn't believe us completely... But Thomas is in there."  
"Why did they not believe you?" Logan asked, looking around the room with disgust. They definitely wouldn't be staying overnight here, just while they thought of a plan.   
"Joan almost blew the plan off the covers!"   
"But they're an actor!" Roman retorted, shocked. "What happened, Joan?"  
Joan plonked themselves down on a relatively clean spot on the bed, while the others took the table which seemed the safest spot. Logan and Virgil seemed to not want to touch anything and stayed standing. "I don't know!" They whined, annoyed at themselves. "I don't know what happened. I think it just almost slipped out of my mouth with the gravity of the situation."  
Remmy sighed, resting the back of his head on the chair. "They panicked..." He mumbled and curled his legs up up in his seat.  
"Okay then." May shrugged, the others had done their part of the plan, and they hadn't actually given away the cover, so there wasn't exactly much to worry about on that aspect.   
Roman looked around at them all. "So, what do we do now?"  
"We attempt to find Exza." Logan responded, throwing some paper and pens down on the table for them all to plan on.   
Patton sat up straight. "Let's get to it then!"  
"Where do we start?" Roman asked, picking up a pen, ready to jot stuff down.   
"Where would Tommy go out of all places?"  
Logan stepped forward. "I have reason to believe he only knows where Exza and/or Thomas has been. Furthermore, he is probably still not used to the gloves so he may be going to unplanned places." He pulled out a map, spreading it out in front of everyone. "Perhaps we can cross reference the places both Exza and Thomas know as it is more likely he would be at a place they both know."  
Joan sat up on the bed. "They both go to Starbucks, right?"  
Remmy shrugged. "Technically Exza doesn't drink most of the drinks there, none with coffee in any case, but she will go with me and Thomas sometimes."   
"Well it could be a possibility that Tommy will be there," May suggested. "Or somewhere else..."  
Roman gave a short chuckle. "We can always check."  
"It could be our only hope." Patton agreed.   
Logan looked at him, pondering if the dad knew he was making a slight star wars reference. "Possibly, though we can't rule out other places."  
May sighed. "Well we're just going to have to think."  
"Alright." Roman nodded, and they all got to work looking over the map, thinking of places both Exza and Thomas had been to.


	9. Teams

Logan stood up, stretching. "So, we have a few places we can check."  
"I have the feeling we're splitting up into groups..." Joan grumbled.   
"But that's how all the horror films go bad!" Roman protested, earning a couple of eye rolls.  
May tutted. "Not ALL horror films go bad if people split up, Roman. Plus, it'll be quicker if we find them..."  
"It does seem to be tree smartest option." Logan agreed.   
"But last time we split up we had to do those trials!" Roman continued to argue, not happy with the idea of something happening to any of them.   
"Well the thing is, we didn't fail them. Well, one of us did but, still. We all made it out in the end." May explained.   
"Ouch." Deceit grumbled, folding his arms. "Even so, May is right I guess."  
Patton nodded. "She has a point, Roman, thanks to Virgil, he saved us and Exza! And we may not have to do them again."  
"I doubt we would have to do them, but we can't forget that Tommy has his own powers, even when he is in Exza's body." Logan continued, not wanting them to forget the seriousness of the situation.   
May rolled her eyes. "Got any other ideas, smartass?"  
Patton gasped, muttering, "Profanity."  
Virgil was sat in the corner, watching everyone argue. They never could solve a problem without disagreeing could they...?  
Logan sighed. "I am not sure, please do not turn against me..." The logical side noticed the anxious ones silence. "Virgil, are you OK?"  
"Peachy, just peachy..." Virgil grumbled, forcing himself to not lift his hood up.  
Roman raised an eyebrow. "You sure...?"  
"How the fuck would I be okay after that.... Thing took Exza?!" He growled, yanking his hood over his head and clenching his fists.   
"OK, don't shout at me."  
Deceit sighed. "We'll get her back."  
"Enough guys." Patton stood, dad mode activated. "Logan, where do we search first?"  
Logan nodded. "We should split up and head to the different locations."  
Joan stood, grabbing their jacket. "Then we have no time to lose!"  
"We shall meet back here in an hour and a half. I shall go with Joan, Talyn go with Virgil, Logan with Patton and May with Remmy and Deceit." Roman called out, checking he had his sword securely strapped to his hip.  
"Oh boy..." May responded, rolling her eyes as she stood.   
Deceit turned to her, a too polite smile creeping across his face. "Are you saying you want to waste time by switching the groups round?~"  
Virgil stood and walked to the door, sick of the fighting. "Let's just go... I don't want to stick around." He grumbled, trying hard not to bring everyone down, but it was so difficult when he was feeling this way.   
Talyn caught up to him. "We'll check the park, come on Virgil." They told the other, leading the way as they hooked their arm through his.   
"Right then, come on then... Remmy, think you can handle it?" May asked the tired side.   
"Of course, we'll take Starbucks. And not just because I wanna grab a green tea with five shots of espresso." Remmy smirked, placing his sunglasses back on.  
May gave a small chuckle, leading them to the door. "Alright then."  
Logan turned to Patton. "We shall search the pubs they are regulars at."   
"Let us know if you find Exza or, well, Tommy." Joan called after the two sides as they zipped up their jacket.   
Roman turned to them. "Joan, we shall check the theatre. I know a shortcut!"  
"Lead the way."  
"Marvellous! We shall see you guys in an hour and a half!" Roman called as they all got outside.   
May turned to the two boys she'd been put with. "Let's go then you two."  
"Of course." Deceit smirked.   
"I'll lead the way." Remmy spoke, walking off already.   
"Come on Joan." Roman smiled, leading toward the theatre and everyone else split up into their groups, heading out.   
Joan nodded. "Let's go, Roman."  
"So Joan, if we find Tommy we should have a plan."  
"Yes we should." Joan smiled as they walked toward the theatre. "Let's think of one quick."  
Roman thought through their options. "Well I have my sword, but we don't wish to harm Exza..."  
Joan laughed. "True, we need to find a way to hurt Tommy OTHER than Exza."  
"We can at least keep him distracted of we find him, after all, like all good... or stupid... villains, he loves monologues. If we can keep him talking I can get the others to meet us there and we can all fight against him." Roman suggested, receiving a happy nod from Joan.   
\------------  
Logan looked to the fatherly trait as they approached the first pub. "So Patton, what is the plan."  
Patton shrugged. "I have no idea."  
"Perhaps we can convince Tommy to follow us."  
"Maybe, but he knows it's us!" Patton replied, Logan stared at him, that HAD been the plan.  
Logan sighed, thinking of how to get the fatherly side to understand what he meant. "Weeeeell, perhaps... we should trick him into thinking we don't KNOW he is following us?"  
Patton smiled. "Then quit the fancy talk, and change into different clothes! That'll work!"  
"Um... Why, Patton? I mean, we need him to KNOW that it's us. We can lead him round to the meet up point and we can all circle him."  
Patton gave him a slightly blank look. Plans... weren't exactly his strong point. "I know but he will know it's you if you keep on using your smart words!"  
Logan stopped walking. "Then what is the point in changing clothes?! You are confusing me!"   
Patton simply pointed to the logo on their shirts.  
Logan raised an eyebrow, feeling anger building. "Yeeeees? Again I must reiterate that we WANT him to know it is us, so he will follow us. We simply have to act like we do not know he is following us."  
Patton shrugged. "Fiiine, but if this backfires, we could've went with my idea."  
Logan blanched. "...I DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND YOUR IDEA!" Patton stared at him. "I apologise. But Patton," He placed his hands on Patton's upper arms, shaking him slightly to pay attention. "We have to concentrate on this alright? Otherwise we may never get Exza back... I know you don't want that."  
Patton nodded. "I know... But I'm at least trying..."  
Logan sighed. "I know Patton, but you know you have to explain what you are trying to say when talking to me. Come on, let us see if he is there."   
Patton nodded. "Alright..." And they continued down the street to the closest pub.   
\------------  
"What do you want to do if we find him, Virgil?" Talyn asked.   
"Find a way to kill him without hurting Exza..." Virgil mumbled.   
Talyn sighed. "Just don't run in there without thinking alright...?"  
Virgil nodded. It woudln't do anyone any good if he simply listened to flight or fight... mainly fight... "Okay..."  
"I know it's hard." Talyn smiled, kindly. They hated seeing their friends like this. "I can't imagine if anything like this happened to Joan... But we'll get Exza back."  
"I hope so."  
\------------  
Deceit sighed. "So what exactly are we doing?"  
"We're gonna kick Tommy's ass." Remmy replied jovially, like it wasn't a big deal.   
May rolled her eyes. "And pretending to get something at Starbucks. And we aren't gonna kick his ass yet, we don't exactly know where he is."  
"But there's every chance he may be where we check." Remmy shrugged. "Want a Starbucks? My treat." He asked the other two as they neared the coffee shop.  
"You have a point, and only one Starbucks. That's it."  
Remmy smirked. "Sure thing, what d'you want? I'm looking forward to my green tea and ten shots of espresso."  
"It was five before..." Deceit mumbled, eyeing the other.  
"Just get me anything. Deceit? Want anything?" May asked.   
Deceit shrugged. "Well, it is almost Halloween so I suppose I shall take a pumpkin spiced drink of some kind. But no coffee."  
May raised an eyebrow, not expecting Deceit of all people (or sides) to enjoy pumpkin spice. "Okay then."  
"Thanks. You're being nice to me. It's strange." He eyed her, suspicious.  
May shrugged. "Hey, everyone deserves a second chance."  
Deceit still wasn't convinced, but shrugged slightly, folding his arms. "Well I am impressed you have changed your tune~"  
"Just remember, I can still change my mind about that chance. But thanks." Ah, there had to be something.   
Remmy smirked, condescending. "You two are adorable. Come on girls, we got a baddy to find! We should capture him and bring him back to the others if he is there~"  
May rolled her eyes, ignoring his jokes. "Oh alright Remmy..."  
"Maybe we should use a big net."  
"And how are we supposed to find one?"  
"Don't forget we gots our own magic babes." Remmy winked, a big net appearing in his hands. "See!"  
"Ah right. I guess I forgot." May did not feel right walking down the street with two people, one dressed in a bowler hat with snake scaled tattooed down his face and the other with a massive butterfly net.   
Remmy smirked. "Silly girl. Come on! Let's catch a baddie!"  
May had to smile. "Ok."


	10. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short break, been busy the last couple of days, here is the next chapter!

They all arrived at their destinations at roughly the same time.   
Roman hummed, his hairs standing on end. "This doesn't feel right..." He mumbled as they walked into the theatre. He turned to Joan. "We'll keep him distracted and I'll call the others so we can catch him, you need to pull out your best acting Joan, you ready?"  
Joan nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be!"  
"Great. Now let's go quick because this place feels weird." He sneaked down one of the rows of seats, Joan nodded and followed. A light suddenly came on from up above, startling the two of them.   
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Tommy was stood on stage, still as Exza, hands in her pockets.  
"That's him?" Joan whispered to Roman.   
"Speak up Joan, I can barley hear you up here~" Exza smirked.   
Roman concentrated, telepathically telling the others Tommy was there.  
\------------  
Logan's turned to Patton. "But he can't be... He's here..."  
"Yeah... What's going on here?" Patton asked, they were looking straight at Tommy in the empty beer garden.  
\------------  
May repeated what Deceit told them. "Tommy is at the theatre?" She was confused, Tommy was stood behind the counter of Starbucks, as the shop cleared out, empty. May shared a look with Deceit and Remmy, watching Tommy smirk at them.  
\------------  
Joan stood. "So you must be Tommy! It's wonderful to meet you, bud!"  
Tommy smirked. "Likewise. These little pests stopped me from meeting you and Talyn last time."   
"And I think they had a good reason why, but anyway, let's talk!" Joan replied, shrugging. "Get ready Roman..." He whispered to the side before going up to Tommy.  
Roman whispered after him. "But... But the others all say he's with them..."  
"And why on earth would I want to do that, Joan?" Tommy asked.   
\------------  
May turned to Remmy and Deceit, keeping an eye on Tommy. "Something is going on, and I think I know what."  
"Well I don't, so do you mind sharing?" Deceit whispered back.   
\------------  
Joan looked to Roman, stopping just before the stage. "Wait so if... The others are with Tommy then... Where is the real one?"  
Roman shrugged back at him from the rows of seats.   
Tommy chuckled. "Come on Joan~ Come play with me~"  
\------------  
"What we're all seeing is probably a hologram or a clone. Maybe a power." May explained. "I've seen something like this before. The only way to know if it's fake, you gotta find glitches, or strange aura." Deceit and Remmy were sharing the ideas with the others through the telepathic means the sides had learnt.  
\------------  
Joan nodded - Roman was projecting the conversation into Joan's head - walking on stage and over to Tommy, eyeing him suspiciously. "Okay."  
Tommy smirked. "Looking for something?"  
Roman cursed. 'I think he knows...'  
\------------  
"What do we do Logan?" Patton asked the logical side, he was usually good at plans after all.   
Logan looked at him. "I... I..."  
"Yes Logan, what do we do now?" Tommy asked, mocking the two sides.  
\------------  
May sighed. "You just gotta be very clever about it." She took off her glasses.  
Tommy lent against the counter, placing his chin in his hand. "Ah, May, Deceit, Remmy. How good of you to join me~" He disappeared, appearing behind May and whispering in her ear; "You won't find what you're looking for~"  
She turned to him. "Maybe we will."  
Tommy laughed. "This isn't the usual tricks, my dear~ And don't forget, you aren't looking at me, you're looking at Exza. And her technology is amazing at hiding whatever you are looking for." He smirked.  
"Is that so?" May asked, stalling as they tried to come up with a plan.  
"Would I lie?" Tommy asked. "Where would be the need. Even telling you the truth you cannot truly even hope to beat me. Look around you all. Each and everyone of you. See how empty these usually crowded places are. No staff, no visitors. Does that seem right to you?"  
"Nope, but you seem to be pushing over my limit."  
"Thank you~" Tommy smirked.  
\------------  
Talyn quickly shouted after Virgil, who rushed at Tommy as soon as he saw him, having heard a lot of the other sides conversations. "Virgil, no!"  
\------------  
May sighed "You really know how to piss off a woman, don't you?"  
Tommy smirked. "Of course."  
\------------  
Virgil stopped, angry, but not wanting to hurt Exza.  
\------------  
"I don't want to hurt anyone but, in the end you'll leave me no choice." May growled.  
\------------  
Tommy smirked, hands in pockets. "Hello, Anxiety! Come to say hello?"  
"No, I've come to get Exza back." The anxious side responded, his fists clenched to try and control himself. "And it's Virgil to you."  
Tommy laughed. "You mean ex girlfriend?" He smirked. "Never known you to be so defensive, it's... Precious."  
"Fuck you. You know how to ruin people's lives, I won't let you do it again this time."  
"Well you're not getting her back, Anxiety. That I CAN promise you." Tommy practically purred.   
"Why not? Is it because of what happened last time? News flash that was ALL you."  
Tommy laughed. "I give you credit, I was a bit careless. But I must thank you. This girls was supposed to die last time. But you save her. And now I'm back. For revenge."  
\------------  
"We won't let you win!" Patton shouted, stepping forward.  
Tommy laughed. "Dear sweet innocent Patton. Yes you will."  
"You must be joking." Logan responded, raising an eyebrow.  
"Not on my watch!" Patton added.   
Tommy stepped towards them both, intimidating. Exza was taller than most of the sides - bar Virgil who was about the same height - so at the moment, Tommy towered over them. "Update paps. Which of us is A) in a body you all are scared to hurt, and B) not afraid of hurting any of you!"  
Patton blanched, staring at the dark side. It was scary. He didn't LIKE scary.  
Tommy smirked. "I'm honestly surprised you all decided to try and fight me, I mean honesty. After last time I thought you'd all be too scared. You don't want Exza to die again after all."  
\------------  
Virgil growled, gritting his teeth. "We won't let you win!"  
Tommy laughed "You can't do anything to me without hurting your little girlfriend." He switched to look like Tommy instead. "Wanna know how much she loves having me 'inside' of her? I wonder, does this count as cheating?"   
"You're lying."  
Tommy lent forward, invading Virgil's space. "I bet she loves it." He smirked, evilly. "She must do~" Virgil clenched his fists until he felt blood drip from his palm, on the verge of hitting him. "After all, a real man could do a lot better. And we all know I'm a better man than you."  
\------------  
May turned to him. "Hey Tommy... I got something to say."  
Tommy sighed. "And what's that?"  
"Fuck. You."  
Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Cute." He folded his arms, enjoying getting to the group. "You know, Exza said that to me~ of course I obliged."  
"Would've guessed since you have Exza." May rolled her eyes.  
"Oh yes."   
\------------  
"I certainly HAVE her, don't I Virgil?"  
Virgil growled. "Talyn I swear, if you don't hold me back, I'll lose it." He spoke, not taking his eyes off of the dark side.   
"Aww, did I touch a nerve?" He smirked. Virgil was struggling to hold himself back.  
Tommy lent forward again. "Come on, Virgil, you wanna hit me? You can tryyyy~"  
Virgil paused for a moment. "No..."  
Tommy tutted, rolling his eyes. He shook his head in disappointment. "Aww, don't even have the courage for that. How do you expect to save her?"  
Virgil glared at him. "We'll find a way. Just you wait."  
Tommy laughed. "Whatever you say, honey~ I will never get tired of seeing that defeated face, Virgil, would you mind if I took a picture?"  
"It'll last longer if you do." Virgil grumbled sarcastically.   
"Then I can see my victory for all eternity." He stage whispered happily. "Plus once I kill you I might miss that look. And I don't know why but I'm sure Exza will as well. Though I'll soon change that~"  
Virgil threw his hands to either side, his anger coming over him. "That's it!" Talyn quickly rushed to hold him back but they weren't quick or strong enough. Virgil hit Tommy. Hard. Tommy fell backwards, turning back to look like Exza, who looks up at Virgil, scared with tears in their eyes, holding their eye, before turning back into Tommy, who stood up. "Oh dear, now look what you've done." He spoke slowly, letting the reality of what had happened settle in. Everyone paused. Virgil stared at him. "...Why are you doing this, Tommy? What did we ever fucking do to you?" He asked, his voice scarily quiet. He felt tears in his eyes but ignored them, hoping the other wouldn't notice.  
"Why?" Tommy asked, before stepping forward, getting as close as possible to the other side. "Because I'm BORED. And you all ruined my plans."  
Virgil stared at him, now comprehending what Tommy would do in order to win. He only hoped Exza didn't think he had... hit them... because of her.  
\------------  
May sighed, beginning to become annoyed with what she was hearing.  
Tommy rolled his eyes at them all. "And I'm bored yet again. I shan't suppose Exza will want to see you lot again anyway. Goodbye." He bowed and disappeared from every location.


	11. Tracking

May turned to the other two. "Thanks for not helping you two. Much appreciated it!"  
Deceit faced her, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, you think I didn't help?" He smirked. "Of course I helped! We should meet back up with the others."  
They all began to head back to the meet up point where the car was.   
\------------  
Remmy finally turned to Deceit as they got close to the meet up point. "What do you mean you 'helped'?"  
Deceit smirked. "I told one person at each location to make sure a tracker got onto Tommy. Now-" He pulled out a device. "We can follow him where ever he goes."  
May actually smiled. "You sly snake."  
"And I shall take THAT, as a compliment." He ruffled her hair. "Thank you Roman, Talyn, and Patton for assisting in my plan." He smirked.   
Patton smiled, sitting in the open boot. "No problem."  
May shrugged. "I have to say, that's very impressive."  
Deceit laughed, giving a small bow. "Thank you~"  
"Guess I was wrong."  
Talyn turned to Virgil, seeing how quiet he had been since they both headed back. "I'm sorry Tommy did that, Virgil... I should of held you back or tried to shut him up..." They added softly, watching the side carefully. He had been staring at the floor, hands in his pockets with his hood up and his fringe flopped over his eyes.   
Virgil nodded slightly, knowing they had just been trying to help him feel better, despite that they had seen him do that to his girlfriend. "It's fine, it's not your fault."  
Talyn watched him, knowing he thought it was his own. That EVERYTHING was his own. "We'll get her back... I'm sure she'll understand why you... did it..."  
Virgil sunk down into his jacket more. "Probably."  
"Don't give up hope." They smiled. "We can track him now as well!"  
"Thanks to Deceit. I'll give him a thanks, soon."   
Logan was talking to the others about the plan. "I am surprised at myself for not thinking of such an idea. Well done, Deceit."  
Patton smiled. "It was a really great idea too!"  
"Do not add insult to injury, Patton..." Logan mumbled, sad he hadn't come up with a plan like that.   
Patton looked to Logan. "I'm not..."  
Deceit smirked, giving a shrug. "No problem, I figured he'd try and trick us." He spoke, trying to defuse the conversation.   
Logan nodded. "Well, we now have a clue as to where he is, and it seems to still work even if he teleports."  
"Great!" Patton giggled.   
Deceit came over and handed the device to Virgil. "Here, you'll probably need it more than the rest of us."  
Virgil looked up at him, slowly taking the device. "Oh, thanks."  
Deceit shrugged, he figured it would give the anxious side a piece of mind.   
Virgil looked at it, seeing a soft blip on the screen. He did feel less anxious when he saw it. He knew where Exza was... And if it kept moving, he knew she was still ok. The blip on the screen was actually moving around a lot, like Tommy was teleporting. The gloves...  
"Yeah, we can't really do anything till he stops at an actual place for a while." Deceit explained.   
"My guess is Exza is fighting back and making the gloves teleport thing act up to annoy Tommy." Logan suggested.   
May smiled. "Probably." It did sound like Exza.   
"So, we should come up with a stratagem."  
\------------  
May was tired, yawning as Logan handing everyone some warm drinks. May smiled "Thanks."  
"Thank you, Logan!" Patton beamed.   
Logan nodded. "It is no problem..." He got into the car, hair dripping wet from the rain outside. They had put the back seats down so that everyone could sit around in the back of the car a lot more comfortably.   
Virgil looked up. "He stopped teleporting."  
Logan sighed in relief. "Good, it has been a week."  
"He's... At the park?" Virgil informed, looking up from the device.   
"The park?" May asked.   
Roman sipped at his coffee. "Why would he be at the park?"  
"I don't know." Virgil shrugged. "But we better look."  
Logan sighed. "Remain calm, Virgil. We may need you to try and lure Exza out..." He put his coffee down and got into the drivers seat, beginning to drive. This was the first time Tommy had been still for so long except when he went off the radar for hours completely, before coming back.   
They made it to the park. And Virgil was quick to look around, Roman pulling him back before he could jump out of the car and try and find him. "I think I see him. Looks like he's trying to practice with the gloves while it's raining, while no one's around."  
Virgil tried to shrug Roman's grip off of him. "Whose up for knocking him out?" He growled.   
May turned to him. "That'll knock Exza out too, mind."  
"I do not see that as a good option..." Logan added. "We do not wish to hurt Exza."  
Deceit tutted. "Damn it I was looking forward to knockin' him out."  
"Well we can't tie him up, since he might find a way to teleport." May added.   
Talyn looked up. "Oh god..."  
Roman turned to them, one hand still on Virgil's arm, keeping him in place. "What?"  
"It's like Infinity War."  
Logan sighed. "We must get the gloves..."  
"And how?" Patton asked. "He's like... Stronger than us."  
Roman sighed. "Well we have to do something."  
"Well... We have no plan."  
Logan turned to everyone. "We agreed to try and let Virgil draw Exza out... If we can get her to respond then Tommy might be distracted enough for us to get the gloves off."  
"And if it doesn't work?" Virgil asked, wanting all of this to just be over already.   
Logan paused. "I am unsure..."  
"Alright then."   
"We can't let him get away again." Remmy piped up, reminding them of the ultimate goal. If Tommy got away again they might not be able to get him again.   
Virgil shrugged Roman's hand off. "Then let me do something about this." Logan nodded and opened the door for him to get out.   
"You can do this." Roman reassured.  
May nodded. "Good luck."  
"Don't mess up!" The prince then whispered after him as he walked away towards Tommy.


	12. Talk

Virgil rolled his eyes. "I won't."  
Exza, or, rather, Tommy, had stopped trying to teleport around and was kneeling on a large rock, looking out with disgust over the few people making their way down the streets in the rain. Virgil made his way up to him, careful of the slippy rocks in the rain.  
Tommy looked to him and looked annoyed. "Oh Christ. It's the boyfriend. Don't tell me we'll have to have 'the talk'." his tone was sarcastic as he rolled his eyes and looked back out over everyone.  
Virgil sighed. "Look... Exza, I'm sorry..."  
Tommy chuckled. "She's listening. But so am I, so choose your words carefully."  
"Just let me talk to her."  
"And why would I do that?"  
"Please..."  
Exza looked at him for a moment before looking back over over the park. "And what if she doesn't wish to talk to you?" He patted the floor next to them. "Have a seat, Anxiety." Virgil hesitantly sat down. Tommy didn't pay him much mind, still looking out calmly over the park and the few people. "It's a shame really. She hates being pitied. But I can't help it. Such a terrible life..." Virgil watched him, seeing his girlfriend before him but knowing it was someone else. "She tries to keep me out, of course, strong will on that one. Not strong enough though." He looked at the anxious side now. "But you know that already." Tommy huffed slightly, looking away again. "Anything you'd like to add? Begging for her back or something?"  
"That's what I want..." Virgil responded, never keeping his eyes off of the other.   
Tommy sighed. "Well you know I can't do that, Anxiety. I need her. For now at least."  
Virgil looked down. "All I want to know is... Why are you doing this?"  
"You asked me that last time." He smirked, breaking the illusion of the soft talking person he had been a second ago. Of being Exza when she was feeling down and not wanting to talk to anyone but knowing Virgil would worry if she didn't. Now it was the sickening smirk and dark eyes that came with Tommy being inside Exza's mind and body. "Because I'm boooored. Besides, I have been treated unfairly. I should have been more important in Thomas's world." He looked away again. "Humans must be ruled it's a simple fact. Who better than me. I can give them what they want."  
Virgil looked at him closely, looking for any reason to defend himself, just in case. "If you wanted to be treated respectfully, you could've asked."  
Tommy laughed, an empty sound. It didn't suit Exza. "Never works."  
"Well, it does sometimes."  
Tommy looked at him. "You should know better than anyone else. How long did it take for the others to even accept you being in the same room as them? They only like you being around because you threatened to leave." Virgil paused, Tommy knew just what to say to hit his nerves. It had taken a long time to stop telling himself those same things, and even then, he didn't always believe they weren't true. Tommy looked away again when he earned no response. "Exactly... They don't care..." He mumbled, earning a sigh from Virgil. "You're more like me than you think, Virgil."  
"But I'm not."  
"Are you sure about that?"  
"Defiantly sure."  
Exza smirked. "Well, I'm afraid I won't be able to let you talk to Exza. You understand." Tommy stood up. Virgil stood up too, going to grab the glove, but Tommy simply stepped out of the way and laughed. "Really, Anxiety?"  
Virgil stared at him. "Shit."  
Tommy tutted. "You really thought that would work? Really? I thought you were one of the intelligent ones!"  
May sighed from the car. "I'm getting sick of this..." She mumbled, watching what was happening.   
Roman was already getting ready to leave the car. "We should intervene. We don't want anything to happen to Virgil."  
"I dunno guys..." Patton mumbled, scared.   
Logan turned to him. "Why not, Patton?"  
"What if we get hurt, or, Exza?"  
Deceit sighed. "Well we can't just sit here forever! What if he does something to Virgil. You remember what he did to Exza's arm, she's still scarred!" He growled, ready to open the door.   
May nodded. "Deceit has a point. God, that's it, I'm going."  
"Me too." Roman agreed.   
Remmy shrugged. "Well I'm up for having a little spat with that douche."  
Patton nodded and they all jumped out of the van. "Alright then!"  
Logan sighed. "Just remain cautious everyone. Let's go." He locked the car and headed towards the hill, everyone following him.   
Tommy gripped Virgil's wrist and twisted so that he was kneeling in front of her. "Don't make me do something you'll regret, Virgil. You could all just leave me alone. Forget about me and your silly. little. girlfriend." He spat, glaring down at the anxious side. Virgil stared up at him, a bit scared as anxiety crawled up his back.  
"Let him go, Tommy." May demanded as the others arrived.   
Tommy looked round to the others, rolling his eyes. "Can't you all just give up already. Geez."  
"No we won't. Not until we get Exza back."  
"Surely you can all just go without her. She's not important. She's not worth anything. She hates herself. And she thinks most of you hate her most of the time as well." He threw Virgil down on the floor, turning back to the rest of them. "I'm getting very bored of you lot."  
"You know what, fuck it! You're really pissing me off!" May growled, jumping to hit them.   
"May no!" Patton tried holding her back.  
Tommy smirked. "Touchy, touchy."  
"Guys help me!"  
Roman grabbed May's other arm. "May, you don't want to hurt Exza! Calm down!" The prince tried to reason with her, but she continued struggling.   
Tommy rolled his eyes. "Pathetic. Why not hurt Exza? Hmm? What's to say she's not the one thinking all of that anyway?"  
"Shut up, you bastard! I will kill you for hurting Exza!" May screamed.   
"May, please, calm down!" Patton begged.   
Tommy stood just out of May's reach with a smirk and folded her arms. "No, May, don't calm down. I am looooooving this look on you."  
None of them knew about May's dark side, she kept it hidden from the others, trying to act all calm, and happy. The only person who had seen her was Exza, and she was out of commission at the moment.   
Roman looked at her. "May, seriously. You need to relax. Nothing good with come from being this angry." May wasn't listening to them, which only made Tommy smirk even more. Roman's grip on her slipped.  
Patton noticed. "Uh oh." Roman tried to grab May's arm again but couldn't.  
"Shit" Roman yelled, the dad couldn't hold on much longer. But Remmy stepped forward, putting May to sleep, though her dark side was starting to form at the same time. Roman turned to him. "You couldn't have done that ages ago?!"  
Remmy held up his hands. "I panicked gurl!"  
Tommy laughed. "You really are the worst group ever." He grabbed Virgil's hoodie and pulled him up. "I might keep this one though. He is fairly fond of you after all. Perhaps he'll be a bit more cooperative."  
"Virgil!" Patton cried.   
Tommy glared at him. "Quiet. Paps." He smirked.   
Logan was stood behind him, and while he was distracted, slowly attempted to get the gloves.  
Patton turned to the lying side. "Deceit, a bit of help with May!" He asked, noticing that Roman was now stood ready to attack Tommy if need be. But May was nearly out of Patton's grip.  
Deceit looked at the fatherly side. "Um... Ok!" He grabbed onto May's other arm. Logan motioned for the others to continue distracting Exza, or Tommy.   
Patton noticed and looked to the dark side. "Look Tommy, we know you're annoyed, but, we can help!"  
Tommy raised an eyebrow. "And how would you do that exactly?" Logan took the opportunity and began trying to undo the first glove.  
"Talk things out! We want to help, but with an angry May- Oh my gosh! That is not May!" The dad shrieked, noticing the May, but not quite May that stood in May's place.   
"Huh?" Deceit asked, looking at May and jumped back. "Jesus..."  
Tommy smirked. "She finally shows herself."  
"Um, guys, we have another problem!" Patton called.


	13. The Other May

Roman turned to them. "Who are you?!"  
Tommy rolled his eyes, having seen the other May in Exza's memories. "Did you all not know? Wow you're oblivious." He sighed. "Logan, you are really beginning to piss me off." He turned to look at him.  
Logan sighed. "It was worth a shot."  
Roman tackled Exza to the ground and held her down. "Someone get the gloves! I don't want to hurt her but he's struggling against me." Virgil quickly tried to grab the gloves while the prince held Tommy down.   
Tommy laughed. "You're all pathetic."  
Roman growled. "Shut up!"  
"I had no idea you wanted to get this close to Exza~" Tommy laughed, causing Roman to glare at him. He looked to the side, where Virgil had managed to get one of the gloves off. Tommy frowned. "Ok, now I'm pissed." He teleported away with Roman, appearing high up in the air and dropping him before teleporting out of the park, it didn't seem as effective as it would have been with two gloves, but he seems to be getting the hang of it more.  
Roman landed roughly on his side. "Oof! Ow..."  
"Okay, can someone, PLEASE HELP ME!" Patton shouted now that Tommy had disappeared. Deceit jumped onto the dark May and pinned her arms at her sides.   
"Ok, now what?" He asked.   
Remmy stepped forward. "Uh, I could try putting her to sleep?"  
"We need answers." Logan retorted.   
Roman slowly stood, holding a hand on his back. "How did Exza know about her?" He asked, winded slightly.   
"Let us get back to the car, Joan and Talyn may be able to help as well. We can keep her in there and ask her questions..." Logan suggested.   
The other May rolled her eyes. "You better get the fuck off me!"  
"Sorry, no can do." Deceit shrugged. "Little help guys?"  
Roman helped them get her back to the car, plonking her down in the back.   
Virgil held up the glove he'd managed to get off before Tommy left. "Good thing is, we have a glove."  
"Nice job, V" Remmy smiled, clapping him on the shoulder.  
"Thanks. Now, the questions?"  
The other May rolled her eyes. "I'm not telling you all shit..."  
"No you will not tell us 'shit' you will tell us the truth." Logan retorted, sitting down with his arms folded. Remmy smirked and made May's limbs go to sleep so she couldn't escape.  
"How does Exza know you?" Deceit asked.   
"Are we sure it wasn't Tommy that knew her?" Roman interrupted.   
Logan shook his head. "Tommy didn't even know May last time, chances are May trusted Exza with the information or Exza knew based on experience. So. Other May. Care to explain to us?"  
"...Fine..." She sighed. "The first time Exza found out, was when 'I' first appeared. One time, your May got mad at people who were picking on Exza. It was all new to the pair of them, and, I nearly killed those bastards. Such a shame she stopped me... I'm basically the opposite to May. The side of her you only see when she's mad."   
"And... You were going to kill Exza to protect Exza from Tommy?"  
"I don't understand." Roman admitted.   
"You never do."  
The other May shrugged. "I guess. But, I have this sort if thing where if an angry spirit kind of thing is taking over another, I can hurt that spirit."  
"Hmm. I'm not sure I trust her." Deceit grumbled, usually able to tell a lie in most situations.   
"You don't trust anyone, Deceit~"  
Deceit clicked his fingers and she felt the 'spell' take effect. Forcing her to tell the truth. "Just a little precaution." He smirked.  
Remmy sighed. "So you're telling us, that you could hurt Tommy without hurting Exza?"  
"Yes. I've done it before with... An old friend of mine. Unfortunately, he was in a coma for a few weeks. The same thing could happen with Exza, depends whether she's in a strong or weak state." Other May explained, though glared at Deceit for the truth spell.   
Logan sighed. "Well, knowing Tommy we can assume Exza is in a weak state."  
"Now, can you please allow me to move?"  
Remmy looked to everyone else first. "Do we trust her?"  
"I wouldn't go as far as trust... But she is telling the truth." Logan reminded them.   
"Do you want my help or not?" She asked.   
"Fine..." Remmy grumbled, removing his sleep spell from her so she could move.   
Roman folded his arms, pouting. "We must be very desperate if we're teaming up with someones evil side..." He grumbled, not at all happy with the situation.   
Logan sighed. "We need a way to get Exza back and stop Tommy, for good this time. If this other May can help us then we should let her."  
"Thank you." The other May smirked.   
The others left Deceit to begin questioning the other May on other stuff.   
Logan stepped over to Virgil, who was sitting on the hood of the car. "Hey Virgil, any luck with the glove?"  
"Kinda." The anxious side replied, looking down.  
Logan perched next to him. "She tried to show me how it works before but... I must admit it is very advanced even for me. She has a very strange mind..."  
Virgil smirked. "I can tell."  
"Did she ever show you how to use them? I know she refused to let Roman try for... Obvious reasons-"  
"Oi!" Roman's offended princey noise came from the other side of the car.   
"-But she might have trusted you more...?"  
Virgil sighed. "Only a few times."  
"I see... Well," he pulled out the device they'd been using to track Tommy. "He's removed the tracker..." He sighed.   
Roman walked round to the front where they were. "So... We can't find him again?"  
Logan sighed, looking defeated for a second, before it occurred to him. "Perhaps we could... The gloves are a set after all!"  
"And they connect together, so one glove knows when the other is." Virgil agreed, looking down at the glove he held.   
"Exactly! Now we just need you to figure out how to track the other one." Logan beamed, happy they had a plan. Plans were important. He jumped up from resting on the hood of the car.   
Remmy stepped forward. "That might take a while... I'll drive us to Costa, we can grab some coffee and tea and stuff, it's starting to rain again..." He suggested, knowing how difficult it had been for everyone to be living in the car. It would be nice to get some hot drinks and relax for a moment to plan the next point of attack.   
"Please do, Remmy." Other May smirked.   
Remmy decided to ignore her, jumped in the front seat and began driving once the others were all settled in the car. "Talyn, Joan, do one of you wanna go to a Laundry Matt when I grab the coffee? We have been living in this car for a while and... We may smell just a touch."  
Joan smiled. "That'd be nice!"  
Roman turned to the fatherly side. "Patton, you usually carry coins around with you?"  
"Of course!" Patton beamed.   
"Wanna loan some to Joan and Talyn? I could use some to buy us some food as well... We've hardly eaten over the past few days with all the excitement and I miss my roast chicken."  
Logan rolled his eyes. "Please tell me you are not actually thinking of buying a full roast chicken?" He was facepalming.   
"What? No! I was thinking chicken sandwiches, Sherlock!"  
Alter May smirked. "Still the same old Roman, I see here?~"  
"I don't like this version of May." Patton stage whispered to everyone else.   
Deceit shrugged. "I think she's fun."  
"You would." Roman rolled his eyes.  
Remmy sighed. "Don't make me turn this car around..."


	14. Hotel

"Can someone trade places with me?" Patton spoke up from his spot in the car.  
Deceit rolled his eyes. "Well you would let her sit in the middle. Go on paps, budge up I'll sit next to her."  
"I'll try."  
"Scared of me now, Pat?" The other May asked, smirking.   
Deceit sat in-between them both. "Patton doesn't like darker people. Despite what he says."  
"I see." She chuckled.  
Remmy turned to them, ready to finish the argument before it had even started. "We're here!" They all got out of the car, stretching.   
"You know, I believe there's a hotel around here... Perhaps we should stay there instead of in the car again." Roman suggested.   
"Good idea!" Patton praised, "Let's look, oh and here!" He handed Joan some money for the dry cleaners.  
"Right kids, don't go running off and getting into trouble now!" Remmy smirked, heading over to Costa, since hotel room drinks were always the worst.   
"I shall grab the sandwiches!" Roman added.   
Logan stopped Remmy in his tracks. "I believe we should go everywhere in pairs just in case."  
"Okay!" Patton agreed, wanting everyone to be safe.   
"Virgil, will you accompany Roman and I shall go with Remmy. Deceit, Patton, take other May up to the hotel and get us a couple joint rooms."  
"Okay then! Let's go!"  
Other May sighed. "Aw, I wanted to have some fun picking on princey."  
Roman made his usual offended Princey noise.   
Deceit smirked. "Well, considering this whole thing started because of Ro last time I could see why, but you'll just have to settle for making fun of me." He told the girl, folding his arms.   
"I said I was sorry for that..." Roman mumbled, glaring at the girl. "Come on Virgil..." He headed to the shop, Virgil following him. They were looking through the aisles when the prince, seeming distracted, turned to the other. "Virgil...?"  
"Yeah?" Virgil replied, looking through the shelves.  
"You don't... Blame me... Right?" He looked to him, scared of the response.   
Virgil paused, thinking it over. He had been angry at Roman at first, and with this all coming up again those feelings had rose back up again. "Partly... But, maybe we shouldn't have forced you to watch scary movies with us. But... It's... All in the past... Until we get Exza back, just remember none of it was all your fault."  
"Right... Thanks..." Roman nodded, though really didn't believe the other. He knew they all thought at least part of the blame was for him.  
"No problem."  
Roman turned back to the aisles. "Ah, here are the sandwiches." He thought it better to change the subject, knowing how much this had been effecting the anxious side. He also hated talking about his own failures with the others. For now, he would act, and pretend he believed what Virgil had said.   
\------------  
Patton looked across the room. "Hey, Deceit, I'm going to find some cookies! I'll be back soon!"   
"Isn't Roman getting food? Logan said not to go anywhere alone." Deceit replied, boredom in his voice.   
"I'll be quick!" Patton reassured him, a big grin on his face.   
Deceit eyed him suspiciously. "Just wait for the others to come back."  
"But the temptation will rise more!" the dad whined.  
"Then you'll feel better when you have cookies, it'll be more worth the wait."  
Patton waited for about a minute, but stood back up. "No I'm getting those cookies!"  
"Classic Patton." The other May rolled her eyes.   
Deceit's voice turned into a deep, growling form. "Patton. Sit. Down."  
The other May only tried to cause an argument. "Oh let him get some cookies, Deceit.~ He'll probably bump into Virgil and Princey."  
Deceit growled. "I don't like using this voice. So SIT DOWN." He spoke at Patton, his voice deep and booming, akin to Gandalf in Lord of the Rings with more hissing underneath. Patton gave a slight whimper and sat back down quickly. "You can go once the others come back." His voice quickly returned to normal. "I'm sorry I had to do that but we need to stay together. If Tommy gets you he has more of an incentive to ruin our plans, knowing we can't hurt you OR Exza."  
Patton nodded. "O-Okay."  
"I'm sorry, Pat. I've never really had to use that voice around you guys..." Deceit looked down. "Makes me sound like even more of a snake..."  
"Nah, it just makes you sound pissed off and it makes Patton scared, so you can scare people you hate with that tone of yours~" Other May smirked.   
Deceit sighed, getting pissed off with her. "What's your point?"   
"I'm just saying, Deceit."  
Remmy came in followed by Logan. "Heyyyyy~" He greeted. "So, can I wake up real May now?  
"We were just discussing that perhaps May and other May could work together." Logan explained to the others.   
Other May lent forward. "I dunno about that Rem. You might have a pissed May in your hands, so I suggest you wait."  
Remmy rolled his eyes. Pissed off May was someone they'd handled before. Other May was becoming annoying. "Wait for what exactly?"  
"Wait until she has full control again. I'll handle her for now. She'll be fine, girl~"  
Remmy sighed and handed everyone their coffees and teas. He didn't understand her logic but chose not to initiate with her.   
"Thanks Remmy!" Patton smiled.   
"I gottchu." He smirked.   
Virgil walked in, followed by Roman. "We're back..."   
"Thank God..." Deceit mumbled. "Right Patton, pick someone to go get cookies with you"  
Patton grinned. "Okay, hey, Remmy, wanna get some cookies? My treat!"  
"Sure gurl~"  
"Yay!" The fatherly side jumped up from his seat.  
"Later bitches, send me a text if you need us!" Remmy saluted, leaving with Patton.  
"Here's all the food, pick what you'd like guys." Roman spoke up, placing a bag full of food onto the table.   
"I'll be fine for now sir sing-a-lot." Other May smirked.   
Roman turned and glared at her. "That is Virgil's nickname for me, not yours."  
Other May shrugged. "Well, I like it, so I'm gonna use it." That earned her another glare from Roman.   
"Just ignore her." Deceit told the prince.   
"Gladly."  
Logan sighed. "As much as it is annoying, we need her for the plan."  
"You're no fun." Other May grumbled, realising that her antics weren't exactly working with the group. It mainly got them to ignore her rather than feed her power by making her more angry. She thought this through, thinking she may have needed to change her tactics.   
Logan sighed. "Well we are in a bit of a predicament."  
Roman shrugged, sitting down and starting to eat.  
"TV?" Deceit asked, feeling how awkward the room was. He flicked on the TV before anyone had even answered him. Virgil yawned, curled up on a chair, his feet on the seat and sitting on the back of it.   
"Maybe you should get some sleep, Virgil." Deceit recommended, observing how tired the anxious side looked.   
Virgil, instead of arguing like usual, nodded. "Okay."  
"I shall keep watch." Roman offered.   
"Is that necessary?" Logan looked up from his notes.   
Virgil stood and walked over to the door. "I'll be fine..."  
"Then I shall get some rest as well... I am very tired..." Roman admitted.   
Deceit turned to them. "There is a room next door where Talyn and Joan are going to be, and the one next to it is where you, Virgil and Patton are going to go." He explained before turning back to the TV.  
"Ok, come on then Virgil, let's go get some rest." Roman smiled.   
Virgil was practically dead on his feet. "Night then..." He mumbled, struggling to keep his eyes open now the prospect of a nice bad had been offered.   
Roman chuckled. "We're in the same room, sleepy." He lead through into the third room and headed over to a bed.  
Virgil lay down and fell asleep almost instantly, a miracle for the anxious side. It usually took him ages to get to sleep, that's why him and Exza would just lay there talking or listening to music. Roman smiled slightly, watching the other, taking off the anxious sides shoes and then laying down to sleep, a sense of doom hanging in his head that he couldn't quite place.


	15. Repercussions

"We're back!" Patton exclaimed as they came back into the hotel room.   
Roman looked up at them, his eyelids drooping. "Hey..." He mumbled, half asleep.  
Remmy was eating cookies as he followed Patton into the room. "I might get some sleep as well."  
"Same here." The father figure agreed, munching on his own cookies.   
"God I don't feel good..." Roman groaned and sat up, he did look pretty bad. His hair was stuck to his forehead and he looked paler than his usual light tan. He looked as if he might be sick any moment and he was shaking slightly.   
Patton sat down. "You're probably very tired, Roman. Luckily, there are some meds in the bag, here." He rummaged in the bag, finding the little bottle. "Take some, then get some rest!"  
Roman sighed softly. "Thanks Patton..." He went to take them, but then rushed to the bathroom, the door slamming after him.  
\------------  
The Other May sat down, watching the other two. Logan was reading and Deceit sat across from him, watching TV. He had been just flicking through the channels aimlessly, but he had paused. "Apparently there's been some weird stuff happening..." The other two looked up to see he was watching the news.  
Logan placed down his book. "Like what?"  
"I don't know... Fires, cold fronts, ice. Vandalism..." Deceit answered, watching the screen.   
Other May smirked. "I dunno about you, but I think Tommy is behind this..."  
"That would be the most logical guess..." Logan nodded. "Given the power of the gloves."  
"And he only has one glove."  
"Exactly..."  
It was sort of terrifying to think what Tommy would be able to do using both the gloves if his influence was this strong using only one.   
Deceit shook his head. "Nothing we can do until we're all rested and feeling better... Bottom line, we can't go against Tommy half alive."  
Logan nodded. "Agreed, looking after ourselves will lead us to better odds."  
"You sounds like an old fortune cookie."  
\------------  
Remmy walked to the bathroom door, leaning against it and knocking slightly. "Roman? Are you ok?" The response was Roman throwing up into toilet. "Oh god... Patton! Virgil! Something's wrong with Roman!"  
Virgil sat up. "The fuck?"   
Patton rushed over. "Oh no! Roman! Are you home-sick? Did you eat something bad?"  
"I... I really don't feel good..." He was shaking all over, his eyes half closed and all colour drained from his features.   
Remmy shook Virgil slightly to make sure he was awake. "Verge, you may need to help us..."  
Virgil groaned and looked up at them. The glove was giving off a small amount of heat in his hand. Once he got a proper look at the prince he nodded. "Fine."  
Roman came fully back into the room, shaking and pale. "God I feel like shit..."  
"Yeah mate, you look like it too." Remmy tried to joke, but even he was worried.   
Roman suddenly looked up, as if in a trance. "I need the glove..."  
"Why?"  
"I don't know... I just need it..."  
Virgil watched him, dubiously. "I dunno... I think you should just rest, Princey." He wasn't sure what was going on, but he didn't like it.   
"No. Give me the glove."  
Remmy tried to stop the prince, "Not sure you wanna try and take something offa V, he bit me once." He joked, but stopped when he got 'that look' off of Patton.   
Virgil stood up, attempting to stay away form the imaginative side. "Just rest, Roman."  
But Roman had other plans, and tried to grab the glove. Virgil quickly moved it out of the way. "Remmy, a bit of help!"  
Remmy looked between the two sides. "Yeahhhh, Roman has a sword so... I'm good really..." He stood back with Patton, who seemed so confused that he just watched what was happening unfold.   
Roman touched the glove and paused, his face instantly falling and tears rolling from his eyes, when he spoke, it was Exza's voice... Virgil froze, not knowing what to say. He was extremely confused "What's happening?"  
Roman hugged him tightly. "Oh my god, it worked..." He pulled away, staring at the anxious side. "Guys, I don't really have much time..."  
Virgil didn't know what to say, but knew this was serious. He nodded slightly, his mind running at a thousand miles an hour. "What's wrong?"


	16. Ally

Roman took a deep breath. "Tommy is getting stronger. He's... He's completely insane. And... He... I won't go into detail but he's been hurting my body and... It isn't exactly fun. I managed to attach myself to one of you, which one am I?"  
Virgil sighed, nodding slightly, trying not to get completely furious of the fact that Tommy was hurting his girlfriend. "Somehow, we have an opposite May on our side now. And... you don't wanna know."  
Remmy chuckled. "Also, you're in Roman!~"  
Roman's face blanched. "Ew... Anyway, he's gonna notice that I'm doing something soon. He won't leave my thoughts alone and it's really annoying me. I just needed to tell you all something..." He turned back to look at Virgil. "Especially you..."  
Virgil nodded. "Do it quickly." He needed to know what she had to say and if Tommy would be back soon then it had to be quick.  
Roman looked down. "I want you to promise me... That..." He bit his lip. "If it comes down to it... Get rid of Tommy. No matter the consequences."  
"Don't worry... We will help save you, we promise, Exza."  
Roman shook his head softly. "You don't understand..." He took Virgil's hand. "If it comes down to it... Forget about me. Let me go, and end it for him. If he doesn't have my body then... He won't have anyone to go into. He'll die. And everyone will be safe..."  
Virgil grit his teeth, his hands clenching Roman's slightly. "Exza, look at me. We will save you. Just stay safe, and fight back." He knew why she was saying what she was, but he didn't want to listen, he wanted to believe that they would all make it out of this.   
Roman smiled slightly. "I know you'll try." He smirked. "Oh shit..." He quickly gripped his own head and dropped to his knees, groaning in pain.  
Virgil couldn't do anything but watch. "You'll be okay, Exza. Trust me." He tried to reassure her.   
Roman stopped making noise and looked back up, his voice back to normal as he looked around at everyone, confused. "What happened...?"  
Virgil shook his head slightly, his voice sounding emotionally exhausted. "I'll tell you tomorrow, you must be tired." Roman nodded slightly.  
Remmy helped lift Roman up and put him into the bed. "Get some sleep, gurl." Roman mumbled something like a thanks and fell asleep.  
Virgil sighed, rubbing his hands over his face and walking back to his bed. "Night, Remmy..."  
"Night V, night Patton!"  
Patton smiled, heading to his own bed. "Night!"  
Remmy sighed. "See you bitches tomorrow. And V?"  
"Hmm?" The anxious side looked across the room at him.   
"We'll get her back. Don't worry." He smirked.   
Virgil smiled. "Thanks, Remmy."  
"I gotchu gurl."  
\------------  
The other May stifled a yawn. "Well I better sleep... Maybe let May take over for a while."  
Deceit was already asleep, curled up in his chair, the remote dropping from his hand.   
Logan nodded. "Goodnight. I would very much like to see the real May again, though you are not as bad as I first assumed." He smiled slightly. "I suppose I should get some sleep as well..."  
"Oh, you don't wanna see me very mad, my friend." The other May chuckled somewhat darkly.   
"I do have issues with anger myself, that I have been attempting to over come. As I knew May was, I simply did not know the extent." Logan explained, putting down his book. "Why are you so willing to help us? And do not lie because Deceit's powers are still on you."  
The other May shrugged slightly. "Well, whenever May gets mad, I appear, but it takes hours for her to calm down, but if people she trust and loves are around it takes less time, so she should be able to turn back very soon." She began, pausing despite Logan nodding to prompt her into continuing.   
He sat forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his thighs. "My guess would be Exza. She does have a way of accepting anyone for who they are. You told us you had a connection with her, is that why you are wanting to help...?"  
The other May paused, but nodded. "Yes. I want to help because my heart isn't all black and dark. I have a soft side too, pal. Exza, she's a great friend to have around."  
Logan smiled, happy the other May was opening up. He could tell she wasn't bad, she was simply trying to protect May and her friends. "I agree. And I am not one of the ones who said your heart wasn't good. We all have darkness in ourselves. Nobody would have known Thomas had Tommy in him but... This is all happening. I just hope..." He thought through what he was going to say. "I have enjoyed your company this evening. I hope you feel free enough to hang around with us in the mindscape. Perhaps Exza could even use the gloves to take you out of May, that way you could be your own side if you will." He hid a yawn behind his hand. "However, right now we need to get some sleep."  
"That'd be nice..."  
Logan stood, stretching. He smiled and hopped into a bed. "Goodnight, other May..." He paused. "Do you have a name?"  
She seemed to think it over for a moment. "No... I don't..."  
"Do you have a feeling, of what it could be...?"  
"I don't know..."  
Logan nodded, understanding. "I might... Let me think on it, I shall tell you what I have come up with in the morning."  
"You don't have to."  
"I would like to."  
She paused, but agreed. "Okay, I won't stop you."  
"Goodnight." He rolled over to get some sleep.  
\------------  
Logan slowly woke up, looking around the room.   
Deceit looked up at him. "Rise and shine, sleepy head." He smirked, looking through his phone.  
"Shut up Deceit." May quipped from her bed.   
"Well someone's back to their usual self." Deceit laughed, standing. "Anyone want a coffee? I'm gonna go down there for mine anyway. I'll grab Remmy or Patton and head down so I'm not alone."  
"That'd be nice, thank you."  
Deceit shrugged and left, grabbing Remmy and heading down to the breakfast bar while everyone else was still asleep. May got up, stretching, she noticed Logan looking at her and smiled.   
"How are you feeling, May?" He asked, sitting up.   
"Exhausted, but I'll be fine... How was the conversation last night?"  
"Actually quite fun." He smiled.  
She smiled back, relieved that nothing bad happened with the other her. "That's good to hear."  
"Well it appears the other form of yourself is as interesting to talk to and 'Hang out with' as you are, May." He admitted, all of which was surprisingly true. They had all been worried at first that the other May would be similar to Tommy, a dark side of her since they hadn't met her before, but she was actually quite pleasant once he got to know her more. She was similar to Exza with the quips and sarcasm.   
"That's something." May sighed. "Did Deceit do something to me-... Other me?"  
Logan looked confused. "What do you mean?"  
"Make the other me say truths or something?"  
"Oh... Yes, we did not exactly trust the other May at first." He explained.   
"No one does really... That's why I just... Don't let my anger take control... I just act so calm, but I'm just trying to keep her down..." She tried to explain, it was difficult to get other people to understand, though she supposed the sides would understand more than most people.  
Logan nodded. "I understand."  
"It's not easy in this sort of state."  
"I get that too. I did come up with a name for the other you as well, I shall tell her next time I see her. But what do you think of 'Ally'?"  
May thought it over. "Seems sorta perfect." She smiled softly, grabbing the clean clothes Joan and Talyn had brought back from the laundry mat.  
"We should see how the others are doing, though it is still quite early." Logan stated, also picking up his clothes. May nodded as he got up and went into the bathroom to get changed into his clean clothes. Not long later he came back out, tying his tie. "All ready."  
"Alright, guess I'll change too."  
"I shall wait in Joan and Talyn's room." Logan smiled. "I would not want to interrupt your privacy."  
"Thanks, Logan."  
"No problem, see you soon." He went to Joan and Talyn's room through the connecting doors.   
Once she was changed she headed into the corridor, everyone was outside in the corridor ready to go for breakfast.  
Patton smiled. "Oh May! Good morning!" He seemed to be somewhat back to his cheery self now that he had had a proper sleep in a proper bed.   
"Good morning, Patton."  
"I'm so tired..." Roman grumbled, slumped against the wall.   
"I can tell, princey." Virgil replied, he also looked tired.   
Remmy smirked. "Not surprised. There's a breakfast buffet downstairs, let's go."  
Patton jumped up and down. "Let's go!"  
"I could eat a horse..." Roman grumbled.   
Deceit rolled his eyes, following them down the stairs. "You could always eat a horse."  
"You'd probably eat anything, Roman." May laughed.   
"Only the finest for a prince!" Roman gestured with his hands, but then yawned.   
They all laughed as they headed downstairs together and got breakfast from the breakfast bar. Once they'd sat down Logan addressed them. "So, we should think of a plan."  
"Well, we sorta had a weird thing happen last night..." Remmy admitted, more awake now he'd had his coffee.   
"Okay?" May asked. "What sort of "weird" exactly?"  
Roman rubbed his temple. "I don't remember most of what happened to be fair..." Still feeling slightly bad.  
"Exza found a way to communicate with us, through Roman's body and mind. But Tommy interrupted of course..." Virgil admitted, poking at his food with his fork.   
"Is she OK...?" Deceit asked carefully, knowing this was definitely a difficult subject for Virgil.   
"She was scared..."  
Logan nodded. "That is understandable. Hopefully we can stop this once and for all soon. After breakfast we can train you using the gloves, Virgil."  
"Okay."  
May sighed, she had to bring it up, it was the elephant in the room and she didn't know what had been decided. "And now we also have... Other me..."  
"Yes, though I have deduced that other May is not exactly bad." Logan reassured her.   
Virgil glared at him. "She almost hurt Exza! And we all know that if Tommy gets hurt, so does Exza!"  
"She did not mean to, besides, she told us she can hurt him separate to Exza, and she was under Deceit's truth spell thing."  
Patton looked up. "I still don't know if I can trust her." He admitted, feeling guilty about that.   
"Understandable." Logan shrugged. They hadn't gotten to know the other May - or Ally - as he had.   
May nodded, she agreed. "It is understandable, but you're gonna have to get used to it..."  
Virgil watched them for a second. "Fine..."  
"I meant more we need to try to get to know her, rather than we should trust her straight away." Logan explained, hoping they would at least give her a chance. He gave Virgil a pointed look, knowing the other knew the feeling of being kicked to one side simply because they didn't understand.   
May sighed, even she was apprehensive about getting to know the other May. "Well... We could try... Let's just say she's... very similar to the opposite of my own personality."  
"I really don't feel like eating..." Roman grumbled. "I'm glad you got to talk to Exza but did she had to make me feel so bad to do it?"  
Virgil shrugged. "Well, all that matters now, is that we get Exza, and stop Tommy." He sighed. "May, think you can change into that form? Considering she is on our side now..."  
May nodded. "I can, but she only shows when I'm pissed off or very angry."  
"Quick, princey, be annoying!" Deceit laughed, laughing harder when Roman put his middle finger up at him.  
May rolled her eyes. "You gotta try harder than that."  
Roman dropped his head onto the table. "I feel like death, can you all just leave me alone for a while..." He grumbled.  
Patton nodded. "Get some rest, kiddo."  
"I'll keep you company." Remmy stood, waiting for the prince.   
Roman sighed. "Fine... Tell me and Remmy if you need help with anything." He told the others.   
"Okay!" Patton called as they walked away. "So, how do we make May annoyed?"  
"We could try misquoting texts and such." Logan suggested.   
Virgil shrugged. "Can do."  
Deceit rolled his eyes, what a lame idea. "Or someone can continuously make fun of Patton, nobody can resit being angry at that."  
Virgil glared at him, he hated it when people talked bad about Patton. "Fair enough."  
"What option is most likely to make you angry, May?" Logan asked, handing her some toast while they continue to eat and discuss.  
May sighed. "Just do whatever, I don't really mind."  
"Well you are most likely to know what will make yourself angry..."  
"Well, I guess the most thing that makes me angry is when people make fun of my friends, including Deceit..."  
Logan smirked at that.   
Deceit raised a brow. "Glad to know I'm not one of your friends." He smirked.  
Patton watched them worriedly. "I don't like where this is going."  
Deceit shrugged. "Eh. If I'm not May's friend, perhaps it'd be best for ME to make fun of everyone else."  
"Hey, I said INCLUDING because you're my friend..." She growled, slightly annoyed already.   
Deceit tilted his head in a non-believing way. "Well why call me separately? Why not just say your friends? I see how you didn't place Logan any differently. Wonder why that is." He rolled his eyes.  
May glared at him. "Yeah, because I didn't class you as a friend the first time we had to save Exza!"  
"Well it's not as if I've changed much is it." They call all tell it was working, and Deceit was happy about that. Little did they realise or care that he wasn't saying what he was saying simply to piss her off, he was actually a bit hurt by what she'd said. "Besides, I don't understand why you both like each other anyway." He pointed to Logan with his fork, best to get the focus off of himself. "Just because you're both nerds."  
"You're really pushing it, Deceit." May growled.   
"Bes-besides... We um... We don't... Like each other that way... Right?" Logan added, not liking where this was going. Deceit rolled his eyes.   
Patton gasped "He stuttered!"  
Logan stared at him. "I... Did no such thing... Um... Excuse me..." He stood and exited the room.   
Deceit smirked. "Finally." He turned to the others. "Somebody should probably go keep an eye on specs."  
Patton nodded, jumping up and heading after him. "I will!"  
Ally looked up at them all. "Good morning all..."  
"Took you long enough. Now should I cast a truth spell on you and get you to blab all about Logan and May obviously liking each other or do I need to wait for it to happen much like with Virgil and Exza?" Deceit smirked.   
Ally rolled her eyes. "Could do, but that's not why I'm here now." She sighed. "And don't say 'other May' for both of us... my name's Ally.   
Deceit sighed, disappointed. "Damn."  
"Anyways, if you want to know, Deceit, I'll tell you soon, but right now, let's just focus why I'm here to help."  
"Very well, we need a plan between yourself and Virgil. It's all good hurting Tommy but we need to be able to separate him from Exza." He explained, motioning to Virgil, who was staying quiet for now.   
Ally nodded. "The separation will take time, I haven't used it in a while, like 10 years. So, I would have to head back to the house and grab something."


	17. Confessions and Practice

"What kinda thing?" Deceit asked, trying to ignore the subject from before.  
Ally shrugged. "You'll see."  
"Not sure I trust that."  
"Well you will soon."  
Patton followed the logical side, managing to catch up to him fairly quickly. "Logan, are you alright? You never stutter."  
Logan sighed, pausing for a moment outside the door. He nodded, looking back over to the dining room and Patton lead him back in. "Yes, I apologise, I must be... Tired..."He addressed the table, sitting back down.   
"Good to see you again, Logan." Ally smiled.   
"Salutations, what did I miss in my absence...?"  
Ally shrugged. "Well, I need to collect something, but it is in May's room."  
"Very well, a few can drive down to Thomas's place and the rest of us can help train Virgil."   
"Hmm, alright."  
"I'll stay with Roman, Virgil and Remmy." Patton offered. "Deceit, what are you gonna do?"  
Deceit shrugged, not bothered. "Whatever, maybe check this area out with Talyn and Joan."  
"Okay! Have fun!"  
Ally turned back to Logan. "Well, I guess it's just you and me, Logan."  
"OK... I shall drive." Logan nodded, checking he still had the car keys.   
"Let's head off." She agreed, and they stood up from the table.   
"Everyone should be careful. Good luck..." Logan told them, before exiting and heading to the car, Ally following behind. They jumped in, buckling up and Ally nodded to him to start driving. He turned the key and pulled out of the parking lot, driving towards Thomas' house, where none of them had been in so long. "So... May I Inquire into what you are having to grab from May's room?"  
Ally turned to him. "Just something I need to make sure Tommy and Exza separate."  
"Yes I understood that." Logan sighed.   
"Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous! Or, so I believe..." She smirked. "Anyway! Do you, or do you not have feelings for May?"  
Logan swerved slightly in the car, quickly correcting himself before they could steer off of the road. "That... That is... Um..." He sighed.   
"What? I'm curious!"  
Logan glared at her slightly. "Feeling are a complicated thing..." He pulled up outside of Thomas's house, pausing slightly as he looked up at the place they all should be, joking, recording videos, watching Roman's ridiculous Disney films... "You... Already know. Just... Promise not to tell anyone...?" He didn't look at her, he just looked at their hosts house.   
Ally sighed, slumping in her seat slightly. "Well, guess I'll have to." She grumbled, before looking at him. "I won't tell a soul."  
Logan sighed, finally bringing himself to look at her. "Thank you... Now, do you need me to help you look for this 'thing'."  
"Up to you, I won't be long." She jumped out of the car, turning back to look at him.   
"Then I shall respect yours and May's privacy..."  
She shrugged, closing the door and went to May's room, and grabbed the thing she needed for the process.   
\------------  
"Ready, Verge?" Remmy asked, excited to see how this would go.   
"Yeah." Virgil mumbled, looking down at the glove on his hand.   
Remmy nodded. "Right, just try to teleport across the pool." He told the anxious side, he was stood on the opposite side; the pool was empty, and they were the only ones around it.  
"Okay..." Virgil nodded.  
"You can do it, just concentrate."   
Virgil nodded again, concentrating on what Exza had told him before when she taught him some of the basics of the gloves, focusing on trying to move to the other side of the pool where Remmy stood. He managed to teleport, but landed in the bottom of the pool with a splash as the gloves made sure to protect him by filling the pool with water before he landed. He really wasn't expecting that, swimming back up to breathe.  
"That was pretty good for a first try, Verge." Remmy smirked, leaning over to look at the other in the pool.   
Virgil grabbed the edge and managed to pull himself out. "Now I'm soaked."  
"Sorry gurl, buttttt now you can try and dry yourself using the gloves." He laughed as Virgil shook his sleeves out.   
Virgil sighed. "I can try." He was already beginning to shake, the weather had fluctuated from boiling hot in the morning to almost cold enough to snow at midday. Whatever Tommy was doing with the weather it wasn't good.   
Logan and Ally walked over, having returned from their quest.   
"Do I even want to know what happened to you, Virgil?" Logan asked, an eyebrow raised.   
Roman nodded. "We're tryna teach him how to use the gloves." like that was a good enough explanation.   
"We can all guess what happened here, and I got what I need." Ally told them, a smirk on her face at the shivering Virgil.   
Patton shrugged. "At least we know it works! Kinda."  
"Hey V, show them the teleporting!" He smirked from the other side of the pool, clearly enjoying what was happening.   
Virgil glared at him. "No."  
"Sleep, please refrain from annoying Virgil." Logan chastised him. "However, you will need to perfect using the gloves, or at least learn how to use them very well." He told Virgil, handing him a towel.  
"Thanks Logan..." Virgil mumbled. "I'll get back to practicing soon."  
"Did you both grab whatever it was you went to get?" Roman asked.  
"Of course I did, Princey." Ally smirked, patting her bag.   
Roman nodded, curious as to what the object even was. "Good."  
Virgil turned to the others once he'd mainly dried himself, though his teeth chattered slightly. "What should we do now then?"  
"We need you to keep practicing. If we have any chance of getting to Tommy and getting Exza back it will be by knowing what we are doing." Logan answered.  
Virgil shrugged. "Okay then."  
"Can you... 'sense' Exza through the gloves?"   
"Kinda." Virgil smiled slightly, it gave him more hope knowing he could still feel some form of Exza.   
Logan nodded. "That may help us keep track of them at least. Especially along with the glove knowing where the other is."  
"I will try to use the spell to separate them." Ally said, knowing her part int his plan.   
"Indeed." Logan told her, before turning to everyone. "We will need to distract Tommy for a while as May does that, and hopefully we can keep him focused on Virgil and his... New skills with the glove. Taunt him, try to make him interested in stealing the glove back."  
"We better get started then!" Virgil told them, just wanting his girlfriend back.   
Logan nodded. "Back to practicing then."


	18. Battle

Some part of the group helped Virgil with teleporting and training, whilst Ally went to practice with the 'spell'. Deceit, Talyn and Joan come back not long after as well and soon it was time for food and then bed. The days worth of training had helped Virgil a lot, but there was still a long way to go.  
They continued like that for two weeks, and finally had a plan set in place; with May/Ally mastering the spell again and Virgil feeling confident with the gloves. They felt it was ready, especially as things got worse in the outside world. Tommy needed to be stopped, they just hoped they were ready enough to face him.  
"Everyone ready?" Patton asked, finishing putting the last few things into the car.  
\------------  
Ally sighed, pacing around the room. "Great, the spell isn't working properly! Probably because I'm stressed or I have nothing to use it on!" She was talking to herself, not noticing Logan walk in behind her.  
\------------  
"Just waiting on Logan and May." Roman answered, closing the boot behind the dad.  
"I'll go check on them!" Patton smiled.  
Roman grabbed his arm before he could run off. "Padre I believe this is one of those times where we stay out of it." He smiled.  
Patton tilted his head like a puppy. "Why?"  
Roman smiled again. "You're supposed to be the heart, Pat. Figure it out."  
\------------  
Logan walked over. "But... You informed us the spell was working yesterday."  
Ally turned to him, obviously panicking. "Well, sometimes, luck comes and goes!"  
"Just relax, you are probably just nervous..."  
"I am not!" She almost shouted. "But it has been years so... I guess you... COULD be right."  
Logan smiled softly. "You are nervous."  
"I said COULD be. I didn't say I am." She raised a finger to him, glaring up at him.  
"You do not have to lie to me." He tried to reassure her, his voice soft. "Why are you afraid...?"  
"I'm just.... Scared it will fail..." She deflated. "I haven't used that spell in years, the first time I used it, I was just lucky on the first try. I don't know about now..."  
"You have been practicing for a couple of weeks, I believe it will work." Logan smiled.  
Ally looked up at him, nodding slightly. "Thank you, Logan." She said softly, smiling herself.  
Logan looked hesitant for a moment, but stood up straight and softly kisses her. She paused, surprised.  
Logan pulled away, a blush coming over his cheeks. "Before you say anything I would like to apologise..." He fiddled with his tie. "But I realised if we do not stop Tommy then there may not be enough time to inform yourself and May about how I... Feel." He looked embarrassed but flashed a scared smile. Ally smiled softly in response.  
"We will defeat Tommy, and we will get Exza back." She said, confident now.  
Logan nodded. "I hope so." He smiled, relieved. "The others are waiting, we should join them."  
"Now, let's go before the others leave without us." She stepped away, heading towards the door.  
Logan laughed. "Indeed."  
\------------  
Virgil rolled his eyes. "Took you both long enough..."  
"Apologies, I had to make sure we had everything." Logan answered, trying to force the smile from his face.  
Deceit smirked. "I get a feeling that's not what V meant."  
Logan looked away, blushing.  
"I think I see why now, Roman!" Patton giggled.  
Logan coughed. "Shall we get going...?" He quickly headed to the front seat.  
"You win this round." Remmy whispered to Virgil, handing over some money.  
"I knew it'd happen at some point." Virgil smirked.  
"Well at least I won a tenner against Picani for you and Exza." Remmy smirked right back.  
Virgil rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."  
Deceit sighed, folding his arms. "I can't believe we already have to try and face Tommy... We're gonna get our asses kicked."  
"Well you never know!" Patton smiled.  
"So innocent..." Deceit mumbled.  
"Let's go save Exza!"  
"Let's do this!" Roman added, excited.   
Virgil had the glove, hoping he was ready enough to do this. He'd only have one shot to save Exza and to stop Tommy. Logan began the drive and Virgil took that as the time to go through his breathing exercises in his head. He didn't exactly feel too anxious, more determined and angry, but he would always be scared of doing most things, so some of that feat leaked through.  
"Just tell me where to go, V." Logan said.   
"They're at the park again, but near the woods."  
"Spoopy. Sounds about right, why must they do that?" Roman asked. "Especially since it's getting dark..."  
Ally shook her head slightly. "I don't know, but he has something in mind, and I can't keep this form up for long. Once I use the spell, May will come back, but very weak."  
"At that point Logan can get you both to safety, do not worry!" Roman smirked, flourishing his hands.   
Virgil turned to him and hit the back of his head. "Stop it."  
"Ow! I was just saying that Logan could make sure both Mays' were ok while we finished off Tommy..." he pouted, but a small smirk played on his lips.   
"We're here kiddos!" Patton spoke up, trying to distract them before a fight played out.   
Deceit turned to the anxious side. "Virgil, I can practically feel the anxiety rolling off of you."  
"Shut up." Virgil grumbled.   
"I'm not trying to be mean, V."  
Ally turned to them. "Enough bickering, let's go." She jumped out of the car.   
Roman followed. "To victory!"  
They all exited the car and headed towards where the glove was guiding Virgil. It was a long walk, but they finally made it to the edge of the forest. They had to go further as well, to a clearing as Virgil had told them. Surrounded by trees but open. They didn't want to question what Tommy was planning from here. The wind whipped at their hair and stung their faces, their clothes flowing.   
They must have been getting close.   
\------------  
They got to Tommy, thanks to the glove guiding them. He was stood with his back to them, power radiating from the one glove. It rippled around, energy dispersing as it tried to get out. Virgil glared at him, maybe if he glared hard enough he could set the man on fire. Just the imagery made him want to smile, but now was not the time, and if Tommy set on fire then Exza would as well.   
"Be careful everyone... remember he plan..." Logans' hushed voice came as they came closer.   
"Let's just do what we need to do." Virgil answered, his voice dark with rage.   
"Right." Deceit nodded.   
Roman had a hand on his swords handle. "Let's vanquish evil..."  
Logan turned to Ally. "Ally, get into position near the edge of the trees, he can't really see you there and you can perform the spell once Virgil has done his part with the glove."  
Ally nodded. "Alright."  
Roman was the first to move, holding his sword up as he moved toward the evil. "It's over Tommy!"  
Tommy turned to them and growled, Exza's eyes glowing bright. "And what on earth makes you think that, princey?!" He growled, clenching his eyes.   
Ally went to the trees to the side of Tommy, without him knowing her presence.  
Logan stepped forward now. "We have the advantage, Tommy. You may as well give up and return Exza to us."  
Virgil was still glaring at him. Exza's eyes were sunken, dark bags underneath as her eyes glowed bright. Tommy would pay for doing this to her.   
"Nah. You've all failed multiple times..." Tommy answered, his voice mixed and distorted. Almost strained. "What makes you think you can keep coming back and keep failing and then suddenly succeed? You're all pathetic and you will never win."  
Virgil readied himself and focused on the glove and his roll in this.   
Tommy noticed the glove, and began to lose power in his other glove, unable to hit Virgil who was teleporting around. He tried to follow him, teleporting after him, Throwing punches.   
They fought back and forth, knocking each other down to quickly teleport away again. Virgil mainly just trying to defend himself so he didn't have to hurt Exza. Tommy was more aggressive, managing to hit him and scratch him any chance he got.   
But eventually, after some fighting, Virgil manages to pin Tommy to the ground. "Ally, now!" He shouted to the treeline.   
Ally nodded and began conjuring the spell to separate Tommy from Exza.  
He almost glitched in the air, yelling in pain, himself showing as an image around Exza, glitching in the night air. Eventually they both separated, Tommy - mostly in a glitched smoke form - appearing in the middle of the circle of the others.  
Everyone held up weapons and shields just in case Tommy tires to attack. But he looked weak and dazed.   
Exza grabbed her other glove off the floor and twisted, nodding to Virgil and lifting up her gloves hand like Iron Man, aiming at Tommy and prompting him to do the same. Virgil was quick to catch on and did the same.   
Ally turned back to regular May, all her energy drained. She leaned against the tree and Logan came over, getting her a safe distance away.   
Virgil and Exza's beams connected and hit Tommy. He screamed out as it hit him; the others have to shield their eyes as it happened, and as Tommy slowly managed to push himself up, to turn to face Exza and Virgil, trying one last time to stop them, before realising he didn't have the glove.   
He stared at them with wide eyes and grit his teeth. He disintegrated into black dust, floating away in the wind, he was gone.  
Everything went silent, the wind dropped back down and the all the chaotic noise that had surrounded them before vanished.   
Exza dropped to the floor.


	19. Finale

Patton turned to the others, smiling wide. "We did it!"  
Virgil looked at his girlfriend. His voice wavered. "Exza?"  
Exza looked up at him weakly. "Nice shootin', Tex..." she whispered, smiling slightly.   
"Get some rest, he must've taken a lot of energy from you." Virgil smiled back, kneeling next to her, glad she was ok.   
Exza smirked. "I knew we could take him..."  
Joan's phone began to ring, they answered and looked to the others as he spoke. A nurse told him Thomas was awake again. They thanked them and hung up, telling everyone else. They began heading back to the car, Logan helping May and Virgil helping Exza. Patton was fussing over everyone, asking if they were ok and checking to see if they were injured. It bought a smile to their faces.   
Virgil stopped near the car, looking back at the woods. "Let's get going then." he said, he knew he'd never want to come back to this spot.   
"Shotgun!" Exza yelled, before passing out.  
Roman looked around at everyone with wide eyes. "...That doesn't count right?"  
"In my book, it does." Virgil smirked, leaning to pick Exza up.   
"Damn. Logan, you look after May, I shall drive. It will be a long drive back..." The prince jumped into the car, waiting for everyone else to get in. Virgil picked Exza up and placed her in the car carefully, stroking some of her hair back before getting in the car himself.   
"Well done everyone..." Deceit smirked, happy with the outcome.   
Patton was still grinning. "Let's go get Thomas."  
"May sound silly but he'll need some rest as well, the coma he was in isn't exactly an REM based sleep." Remmy informed them, sitting back and looking at his phone.   
\------------  
They all got Thomas from the hospital, catching him up with the basics. They'd explain the rest later when they were back at the house.   
It didn't take long for them to arrive back, they helped Thomas, May and Exza back inside.   
"How ya feeling?" Deceit asked, turning to his host. Thomas nodded slightly.   
"Alright... I think I saw some of what was happening..." He admitted. He might have been able to see through the other sides?  
Virgil took Exza upstairs, taking her into his room, putting her down on his bed gently. Her heart rate had slowed immensely and she wasn't breathing properly, but she was alive and free of Tommy. He finally had her back, he wanted to talk to her, ask her how she was, hold her. But she needed rest. He let out a long sigh. "At least she'll be okay." He told himself. He stayed with her, sitting next to her and stroking her hair. Every so often she would glitch, she had been joined with Tommy for so long, it seemed her body was having a hard time adjusting back.  
\------------  
Patton walked over to the intellectual side. "Hey Lo, how's May doing?"  
"She is resting at the moment." Logan nodded. "Just a bit of sleep, that's all she needs. She will be a bit weak for a few days..."  
"So, I may or may not know about your, 'secret'." He beamed, almost jumping up and down with excitement.   
Logan chuckled. "Patton, I believe everyone had worked that out already."  
"Well, you both will be perfect together!"  
"Thank you, Patton." He couldn't help a small smile come over him. Now he actually had time to think about it, he was 'over the moon'.   
"No problem."   
They all ordered take away food that night and sat around recounting what had happened while May and Exza rested, Thomas eventually fell asleep on Patton's' shoulder.   
\------------  
A few days later May was back up and back to normal, not being as scared of letting her other self come out to play so often. Virgil nodded to her as he headed to his room to visit Exza and see how she was feeling. "Hey Exza, you okay?" he asked, closing the door behind him.   
Exza rushed over and hugged him before giving him a deep kiss. "God I missed you..."  
Virgil smiled, he hadn't seen her this coherent since they first got her back. "I missed you too, Exza. How are you feeling?"  
"I honestly don't know." She smiled slightly, giving a small shrug. "I assume the others wanna see me..."  
"Patton has been worrying non-stop."  
Exza giggled. "I expected nothing else." She smirked and took his hand to head downstairs. Virgil lead the way and they stopped at the bottom of the stairs. She looks around the room at everyone talking and laughing, they hadn't seen her yet. "Hey guys..."  
Patton was the first to looks at her. "Exza!" He shouted, jumping up and wrapping her in a bear hug.   
"Hey Exza, great to see you up and about again." May nodded at her.   
Exza smiled. "Hey..." She laughed as Patton lifted her up.   
"IWASSOWORRIED!" He shouted. She winced since it was right in her ear, but smiled.   
"Sorry, dad."  
"It is good to see you awake, Exza. Now you must eat something, I cannot imagine how long it has been since you have ate." Logan said, standing and folding his arms. Always there to tell them how to take care of themselves.   
Patton let Exza go, already heading towards the kitchen. "I'll go make something!"  
"Just remember I cant do savoury paps." She smiled after him.   
Patton nodded enthusiastically. "It'll be simple, don't worry!" He smiled back at her.   
"Lots of sugar remember!" She smirked and sighed and let some of the others hug her.  
Virgil placed his arm over her shoulders. "Thankfully, Tommy is gone, for good this time."  
She looked down. "Yeah..."  
Patton came back into the room. "We couldn't have saved Exza without May's help!" He told them, he was so proud of his kids.   
Virgil smiled. "Don't worry Exza, everything will be fine now." He told her quietly, feeling her tense up.   
"Yeah... I wanted to thank you guys... I seriously thought there was no way I could make it out of that alive..." She mumbled, but everyone heard her and smiled.   
Patton stepped forward. "No problem!"  
"It's no problem, Exza." May added, nodding her head.   
Logan pushed his glasses up awkwardly. "You seem down...?"  
"I'm fine... just..." She sighed.   
"Tired?" Virgil supplied, knowing that she probably needed more rest before she would feel 100% again.   
"I don't know... Worried... Anxious... Terrified of him coming back..." She said, moving her hands around to extenuate her point.   
Virgil looked to her, wanting so badly to help her. "He won't come back." He tried to tell her, but he knew she wouldn't believe that.   
Roman looked around at everyone else. "Do you wanna see something that will help you feel better...?" He asked. Exza raised a brow. The prince handed her the laptop that had been on the sofa and pushed her softly to sit down. It was on the video she uploaded just before this happened, people had noticed she'd gone and almost all of the comments were positive, hoping she was OK and could be back soon. There was also a couple of videos of people wishing Exza well, making conspiracies and hoping she was ok.  
Exza stared at the screen. "People... Really missed me...?"  
Logan nodded. "You and Thomas. The fans noticed and hope you're both ok..."  
"You both might wanna let them know that you're okay." May added, seen as her email had been spammed by fans asking if the two youtubers were ok.   
"We can record a couple updates later." Thomas suggested.   
"For now I think you should both relax, Exza is there anything you would like to do?" Logan asked.   
"Hmmm..." Exza smirked, a mischievous look on her face. Everyone froze.   
"I don't like that smirk." Patton mumbled.   
"Oh no... we may have made a mistake bringing her back!" Roman added.   
Exza slowly stood up from the sofa. "WELCOME, TO THE SUPER AWESOME PRANK WAR!"

-The End-


	20. Epilogue

"I don't wanna talk about it..." Exza sighed.   
"Talking about things is one of the ways people heal, Exza." Logan responded, adjusting his glasses.   
"Bite me, specs." She rolled her eyes. "Why do we all have to be on one sofa?!"  
"Because we're bonding!" Patton smiled.   
"Dad, this is stupid."   
"Just give it a chance, Exza." Virgil mumbled. "Trust me, I hate this as much as you..."   
"Then let's leave!"

A cough broke them out of their bickering.   
They all looked to Picani, who sat with his notebook on his lap, staring at the group of sides who were all mushed onto his sofa. "You realise that I can't give friends or family therapy sessions." He began, looking at all of them. "Plus, the therapy session is 45 minutes and we spent 20 of them watching Exza argue with Princey."  
"He took my spot." Exza grumbled.   
"Get out."

**Author's Note:**

> questions - 
> 
> \- Exza's gender and dating Virgil - 
> 
> So, a couple of my friends who know my gender identity and sexuality asked me about this. I (Exza) tend to go by they/them pronouns, or male pronouns, but for the sake of the story and clarity in general, we decided to stick to She pronouns and present Exza as a girl.  
> It is difficult to explain my identity, especially when I have alters and I have different layers to myself etc. So I tend to just say non-binary - which is a part of it aha - so in terms of the story, Virgil is still gay (I got a few complaints about that...) but due to Exza being non-binary, he isn't dating a girl. I may go into detail about my identity in the future, but it is hard to explain in a way where people are accepting/understand...
> 
> \- Tommy's backstory - 
> 
> Tommy is an interesting character that you guys seemed to love. In terms of where Tommy came from and his motivations, we will see a TINY bit of that in this story. However, for the time being, we won't be learning much more.  
> I can confirm that Tommy IS a part of Thomas, and he didn't invade Thomas' mind as some people have asked me. He is technically a dark side, and yes he did steal some part of Deceit in the previous story. There's not too much more I can say for the time being (Spoilers :P)
> 
> \- Sequels? -
> 
> Hello! Here is the sequel, enjoy :P  
> Seriously though I believe we are planning a few more stories, however, whether they are a part of this universe or not is TBD (to be determined. NOT totally believable bruh) We shall see.
> 
> \- If anyone has any questions feel free to inbox me on tumblr, my main account is imthederpyfox but my sanders sides blogg is virgil-the-virgin


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